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FKOM  ST.  PAUL  TO  BISHOP  BRO^jICS 


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LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,     N.    J. 


Presented  by 


"TWe  Widow-  of  &eor(5e.  Tluc^n,  ^^ 

BR  151  7ari.902 
Gardner,  William  Edward, 

1872-1965. 
The  history  of  Christianity 

from  Saint  Paul  to  Bishop 


The  History  of  Christianity 


The 

History  of  Christianity 

From  Saint  Paul  to  Bishop  Brooks 


A  Manual  for  General 
Reading  and  for  Use 
in  the  Sunday  Schools 


By 

WILLIAM    EDWARD    GARDNER 

General  Secretary 

General  Board  of  Religious  Education 

Protestant  Episcopal  Chmxh 


NEW  YORK 
CHURCH    LITERATURE   PRESS 

BIBI,B   HOUSE 


Copyright,  1902 

CHURCH  LITERATURE  PRESS 


Preface 

When  these  lessons  on  Christian  History  were  writ- 
ten, the  writer  had  in  mind  a  definite  class  of  boys 
and  girls  who  said  that  they  were  "tired  of  studying 
the  Bible."  They  met  with  such  success  at  that  time 
as  to  warrant  the  making  of  plates  from  which  three 
thousand  were  subsequently  printed. 

The  Church  Literature  Press  has  secured  the  right 
to  print  this  edition  from  the  plates,  confident  that 
some  of  the  workers  in  the  Senior  Department  of  the 
Sunday-school  of  to-day  will  welcome  this  material. 


Introduction 

The  awakened  interest  on  the  part  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  the  religious  education  of  the  youth,  and 
the  demand  for  better  methods  of  study  in  our  Sunday- 
schools,  assure  a  welcome  to  every  earnest  effort  in 
these  directions.  This  is  the  ground  for  my  confidence 
that  a  cordial  welcome  will  be  given  to  this  book.  Its 
methods  and  contents  have  stood  the  test  of  experi- 
ence, and  its  line  of  thought  is  such  as  to  be  helpful  to 
parents  as  well  as  to  Sunday-school  teachers  and 
scholars.  I  take  pleasure,  therefore,  in  commending 
this  book  as  a  helpful  contribution  towards  the  great 
work  of  religious  instruction. 

William  Lawrence, 
Bishop  of  Massachusetts. 

October  2"/,  igo2. 


Contents 


DIVISION   ONE 

THE   BEGINNING 

1.  Introduction, 13 

2.  Jews  and  Christians,       .......  17 

3.  The  Fall  of  Jerusalem, 21 

4.  Christian  Martyrs :  Ignatius  and  Polycarp,      ...  23 

5.  General  Persecutions  and  Christian  Victories,  .         .  28 

6.  Early  Organization,         .......  30 

7.  Two  Organizers :  Tertullian  and  Cyprian,       ...  32 

8.  Creed, 35 

9.  The  Missionary  Spirit,    . 37 

10.  The  Worship  and  Life  of  Early  Christians,     ...  37 

11.  Fall  of  Paganism, 38 

12.  The  General  Councils.     Arius  and  Athanasius,        .         .  41 

13.  Leo  First 46 

14.  Rise  of  Monasticism  and  Augustine,       ....  48 

15.  Missionary  Activity, 54 


DIVISION  TWO 

THE    MIDDLE    AGES 

16.  Fall  of  the  East, 57 

17.  Beginning  of  the  West,           ......  58 

18.  Two  Centres  of  the  Middle  Ages, 60 

19.  Rise  of  Papacy.     Gregory  the  Great,  590-604,        .         .  61 

20.  Rise  of  the  Empire.     Charlemagne  (Charles  the  Great), 

768-814, 64 

9 


lO 


CONTENTS 


21. 
22. 
23- 


24. 
25- 


Development  of  Monasticism,         .... 
Papacy  in  Full  Power.    Gregory  Hildebrand,  1073-1085 
Events  During  Papal  Supremacy,  . 

1.  The  Crusades, 

2.  The  Inquisition, 

3.  Saint  Francis  of  Assisi,  1 182-1226 
Abuse  of  the  Papal  Power,     . 
Reforming  Forces,  .... 

1.  Wiclif,  1 324- 1 384,    . 

2.  Huss,  1 369- 14 1 5 


67 

70 
74 
74 
77 
79 

83 
86 

87 
90 


DIVISION  THREE 

THE  REFORMATION 

26.  The  New  Spirit, 

27.  Reformation  in  Germany.     Martin  Luther,  1483-1546 

28.  Reformation  in  France.     John  Calvin,  1509-1564, 

29.  Reformation  in  England, 

I.     Henry  the  Eighth,    . 

The  Bible  and  Prayer  Book, 
The  Dissolution  of  the  Monasteries, 
Edward  the  Sixth,     . 
Reaction  under  Mary  First, 
Spanish  Armada, 

30.  Counter  Reformation, 

1.  The  Order  of  Jesuits, 

2.  Council  of  Trent, 

31.  Protestant  Spirit,     .... 

32.  Puritans  and  Pilgrims,    . 

1.  Oliver  Cromwell,  1599-1658, 

2.  John  Milton,  1608-1675,    . 

3.  John  Bunyan,  1 628-1688, 

33.  Puritan  Emigration, 

34.  The  Fall  of  Puritanism, 

35.  Rise  of  Denominations, 

36.  Translations  of  the  Bible, 

37.  Age  of  Reason, 


93 

95 
102 
106 
107 
no 
112 
114 
114 

"5 
117 
117 
120 
121 
123 
124 
127 
129 

131 

132 

133 
137 
137 


CONTENTS 


II 


DIVISION  FOUR 


THE    NEW    LIGHT 

38.  Methodism  and  John  Wesley,  1 703-1 791, 

39.  Immanuel  Kant,  17  24- 1804,  . 

40.  Friedrich  Schleiermacher,  1768-1834,     . 

41.  The  Oxford  Movement 

42.  Rise  of  Sunday-schools, 

43.  Public  Education,  ..... 

44.  Christian  Heroes  of  the  Nineteenth  Century, 

45.  David  Livingstone,  1807-1S73, 

46.  Lord  Shaftesbury,  .... 

47.  William  E.  Gladstone,    .... 

48.  Phillips  Brooks,  .  .... 


141 
'45 

145 
149 

151 
152 
152 
152 

»57 
161 

165 


The    History   of    Christianity    from 
St.  Paul  to  Bishop  Brooks 


DIVISION  ONE 

THE    BEGINNING 


I.  Introduction. 

In  studying  these  pages  we  must  understand,  first 
of  all,  how  Christianity,  which  was  the  child  of  the 
Jewish  religion,  came  to  spread  over  the  world. 

There  were  many  reasons  to  prevent  its  spreading ; 
(i)  Its  Founder  had  been  condemned  and  crucified  as  a 
criminal.  (2)  The  Romans  hated  it,  because  they 
hated  the  Jews  and  they  made  no  distinction  between 
Judaism  and  Christianity.  (3)  The  Jews,  out  of 
whose  religion  it  grew,  hated  and  condemned  it. 

But  Christianity  has  seemed  to  thrive  and  grow 
strong  on  hatred  and  persecution.  Its  success,  in 
spite  of  obstacles,  makes  us  believe  it  is  God's 
message,  God's  revelation  to  us,  for  God's  truth  always 
prevails. 

»3 


14  THE   HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

The  first  obstacle  to  the  promotion  of  Christianity 
came  from  the  priestly  authorities  at  Jerusalem. 
Annas  and  Caiaphas,  the  very  priests  who  had  con- 
demned Christ,  arrested  Peter  and  John  for  teaching 
the  new  religion  in  the  Temple.  A  little  later  that 
zealous  young  man,  Stephen,  the  deacon,  was  arrested, 
falsely  accused  of  speaking  blasphemy,  and  stoned  to 
death.  This  event  was  the  signal  for  a  general  per- 
secution by  the  Jews,  of  the  Christians  in  Jerusalem. 
It  seems  hard  to  say  that  the  persecution  was  a  good 
thing  for  the  future  of  Christianity ;  but  it  was.  It 
compelled  the  Christians  to  leave  Jerusalem,  where 
they  could  never  be  successful,  and  to  go  to  Samaria, 
to  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  to  Phoenicia  and 
Cyprus,  and  at  last  to  Antioch,  the  imperial  capital 
of  the  Eastern  Empire. 

Then  appeared  Paul  the  great  missionary,  the  great 
traveler  who  journeyed  over  the  Roman  world, 
visited  these  Christian  communities,  established  others 
and  kept  himself  in  touch  with  all  of  them  by  letters 
and  messengers. 

These  communities  were  not  churches  as  we  know 
them  to-day.  They  were  little  household  companies 
of  men  and  women  who  came  together  when  the 
work  of  the  day  was  done,  and  read  St.  Paul's  letters, 
recited  some  of  the  stories  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  had 


THE    BEGINNING  1$ 

not  been  written  then,  but  which  now  are  written  in 
the  four  gospels.  After  the  reading  they  would  pray 
and  sing,  worshiping  God. 

There  were  three  things  in  this  simple  life  which  we 
should  notice  :  (i)  Great  reverence  for  tJie  Apostles. — 
All  of  these  communities  were  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Apostles.  James  was  the  head  at  Jerusalem, 
John  at  Ephesus,  Paul  had  oversight  in  Corinth, 
Thessalonica,  Antioch  and  other  cities.  The  early 
Christians  had  great  veneration  for  those  Apostles  to 
whom  Christ  gave  the  great  responsibility  of  proclaim- 
ing the  gospel,  or  as  they  loved  to  call  it  the  "  Word 
of  God."  They  recognized  that  Christ  did  not  leave 
His  gospel  to  be  proclaimed  by  everybody,  although 
He  wanted  every  man,  woman  and  child  to  be 
disciples.  What  is  every  one's  business  is  no  one's 
business,  thus  Christ  especially  called  the  twelve  to 
Him  (John  20:  21,  22;  Matt.  28:  18),  and  kept  them 
near  Him,  teaching  them.  The  early  Christians  saw 
the  wisdom  of  this  plan,  and  came  to  recognize  that 
in  that  close  companionship  the  Apostles  had  come  to 
know,  best  of  all  men,  Christ's  real  spirit.  Thus 
when  any  question  came  up  for  settlement,  the  early 
Christians  would  turn  to  the  Apostles  for  counsel  and 
direction.  In  this  way  the  Apostles  soon  became,  not 
only  the  spiritual  leaders,  but  also  leaders  in  practical 


1 5  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

affairs.  As  Christianity  spread  these  Apostles  chose 
men  to  become  leaders  in  new  places  under  their 
direction  (Titus  i  :  5),  and  when  the  Apostles  died, 
their  important  duties  were  given  to  others,  who  were 
not  called  apostles  but  overseers  or  '•  bishops,"  and 
these  in  turn  became  to  the  Christian  communities 
expecially  responsible  under  Christ's  command  to 
promote  the  gospel. 

(2)  Baptism. — Not  only  did  they  learn  from  Christ 
that  He  would  have  His  gospel  proclaimed  by  men  espe- 
cially chosen,  but  they  also  learned  from  Him,  that  they 
should  receive  the  sacrament  of  baptism  (John  3  :  3-5). 
"  The  outward  and  visible  sign  "  of  washing  by  water 
should  become  the  evidence  of  the  "  inward  and 
spiritual  grace  "  with  its  "  death  unto  sin  and  a  new 
birth  unto  righteousness  "  and  a  desire  for  a  nobler  and 
higher  life. 

Such  a  sacrament,  performed  as  Christ  commanded, 
meant  that  all,  young  and  old,  who  embraced  it,  en- 
tered into  the  Body  of  Christ,  and  became  partakers 
of  His  life,  children  of  God  and  inheritors  of  the 
life  of  the  new  kingdom. 

(3)  The  Lord's  Supper. — And  lastly  Christ  insti- 
tuted a  special  service  by  which  His  followers  could 
worship,  testifying  their  allegiance  to  Him,  and  receiv- 
ing strength  to  live  the  true  life(i   Cor.  11:23-29). 


THE   BEGINNING  1/ 

This  service  was  called  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  was 
celebrated  the  first  day  of  the  week  (Acts  20 : 7).  This 
supper  is  a  sacrament.  Like  baptism  it  has  an  "  out- 
ward and  visible  sign  "  :  bread  and  wine,  and  it  has 
also  "  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace,"  signified  by  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  "  spiritually  taken  and  re- 
ceived "  by  Christians.  This  service  was  very  impor- 
tant to  the  early  Christians  and  should  be  to  all  Chris- 
tians of  all  times,  because  commanded  by  Christ  Him- 
self who  put  a  special  emphasis  upon  it.  Read  John 
6:51-56. 

2.  Jews  and  Christians. 

In  spite  of  these  provisions  for  the  definite  expres- 
sion of  the  new  religion,  the  early  Christians  would 
look  back  to  the  mother  religion.  Though  Judaism 
persecuted  them,  they  could  not  seem  to  break  with 
it.  Wherever  Christianity  had  been  carried  over  the 
empire,  its  converts  still  felt  that  the  Christian  com- 
munity at  Jerusalem,  where  the  Apostles  abode,  was 
the  head  of  Christianity,  just  as  the  temple  was  the 
head  of  Judaism.  If  any  dispute  arose,  they  felt  that 
it  should  be  taken  to  Jerusalem  for  settlement  (Acts 
15).  Then  as  Christ  had  always  attended  the  Jewish 
synagogues,  so  did  the  early  Christians,  going  to  the 
Jewish  places  of  worship  in  Rome,  Antioch,  Corinth 
and  other  cities. 


1 8  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

As  Christians  dispersed  over  the  world,  they  were 
confused  with  the  Jews,  bearing  the  burden  of  holding 
an  unpopular  religion,  and  sharing  the  hatred  which 
the  Romans  had  for  the  Jews.  But  still  Christianity 
flourished  and  grew  stronger  day  by  day.  The  one 
great  reason  was  :  it  ansivered  the  needs,  moral  and 
spiritual  of  tlie  human  soul.  Other  reasons  were  :  (i) 
Its  care  for  the  poor  and  helpless,  pagan  as  well  as 
Christian.  (2)  Its  respect  for  the  slave  as  a  child  of 
God  and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  (3) 
The  heroic  way  in  which  the  Christians  suffered  when 
persecuted.  The  sympathies  of  men  and  women  were 
aroused,  and  a  desire  awakened  to  know  more  of  this 
religion  which  made  one  so  able  to  bear  physical  pain. 

Little  by  little  some  of  the  Christians  realized  that 
they  could  not  continue  in  the  Jewish  community. 
Among  the  first  to  break  were  those  in  Rome.  Cast- 
ing themselves  loose  from  connection  with  the  syna- 
gogue, a  Roman  Christian  community  was  established 
which  gained  much  prominence. 

It  was  to  this  community  that  the  Roman  Emperor 
turned  after  the  burning  of  Rome  in  64  a.  d.  It  is 
generally  believed  though  not  proven,  that  Nero  or- 
dered the  burning  of  Rome  in  order  that  he  might 
rebuild  it.  The  people  who  suffered  in  this  fire  sus- 
pected him  and  began  to  assume  a  threatening  atti- 


THE    BEGINNING  I^ 

tude.  Nero  sought  to  divert  suspicion  from  himself 
by  throwing  the  blame  on  the  Christians  to  whom  the 
people  already  attributed  all  sorts  of  infamy.  For 
first  hand  information  we  will  turn  to  Tacitus  the 
Roman  historian  who  lived  and  wrote  about  thirty 
years  after  the  event  "  With  this  view,  he  (Nero) 
accused  those  men  who  under  the  appellation  of 
Christians  were  already  branded  with  deserved  infamy. 
They  derived  their  name  and  origin  from  Christ,  who 
in  the  reign  of  Tiberius  had  suffered  death  by  the  sen- 
tence of  the  procurator  Pontius  Pilate.  For  a  while 
this  dire  superstition  Vv^as  checked,  but  it  again  burst 
forth,  and  not  only  spread  itself  over  Judea,  the  first 
seat  of  this  mischievous  sect,  but  was  even  introduced 
into  Rome,  the  common  asylum  which  receives  and 
protects  whatever  is  impure,  whatever  is  atrocious. 
The  confessions  of  those  who  were  seized  discovered 
a  great  multitude  of  their  accomplices,  and  they  were 
all  convicted,  not  so  much  for  the  crime  of  setting  fire 
to  the  city,  as  for  their  hatred  of  human  kind.  They 
died  in  torments.  Some  were  nailed  on  crosses ; 
others  sewn  up  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts  and  exposed 
to  the  fury  of  dogs  ;  others  again,  smeared  over  with 
combustible  materials,  were  used  as  torches  to  illumi- 
nate the  darkness  of  the  night.  The  gardens  of  Nero 
were  destined  for  the  melancholy  spectacle,  which  was 


20  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

accompanied  with  a  horse  race,  and  honored  with  the 
presence  of  the  Emperor,  who  mingled  with  the  pop- 
ulace in  the  dress  and  attitude  of  a  charioteer.  The 
guilt  of  the  Christians  deserved  the  more  exemplary- 
punishment,  but  the  pubhc  abhorrence  was  changed 
into  commiseration,  from  the  opinion  that  those  un- 
happy wretches  were  sacrificed  not  so  much  to  public 
welfare,  as  to  the  cruelty  of  a  jealous  tyrant." 

In  this  passage  from  a  Roman  writer  we  can  gain 
many  ideas,  (i)  Christians  were  numerous  and  at- 
tracted attention.  (2)  There  was  popular  hatred 
against  them,  people  believed  them  capable  of  mon- 
strous crimes.  (3)  Under  Nero  they  suffered  untold 
agonies  and  many  died.  (4)  They  were  the  objects  of 
Roman  sympathy.  These  persecutions  in  Rome  were 
the  beginning  of  many  pagan  persecutions  which  lasted 
during  the  first  three  hundred  years  of  the  Christian 
Era. 

In  spite  of  all  the  persecution  by  Jews  and  pagans 
the  new  religion  remained  Jewish  in  its  form.  They 
had  priests  and  elders  (Acts  1 1  :  30)  as  in  the  old  relig- 
ion ;  they  read  the  Old  Testament  and  observed  many 
of  the  Mosaic  laws.  How  far  this  would  have  contin- 
ued we  cannot  say.  The  tendency  to  make  Chris- 
tianity like  Judaism  was  stopped  by  one  event — The 
destructiofi  of  Jerusalem. 


THE   BEGINNING  21 

3.  The  Fall  of  Jerusalem. 

That  Judaism  was  beginning  to  decay  was  evident 
in  the  condemnation  and  crucifixion  of  Christ  by  the 
priests  and  elders.  In  their  narrowness  and  bigotry 
the  Jewish  people  were  in  constant  conflict  with  the 
Roman  conquerors.  Soon  after  Christ's  death  a  pow- 
erful Jewish  party  began  a  determined  insurrection. 
It  was  an  unequal  combat.  Rome  could  crush  the 
Jews  as  a  lion  would  crush  a  mouse.  With  great  de- 
liberation the  Roman  army  under  Vespasian  swept 
over  GaHlee  and  made  the  land  desolate. 

Arriving  before  Jerusalem,  Titus,  the  son  of 
Vespasian  assumed  command.  Within  the  city,  in- 
stead of  unity,  there  was  great  confusion.  Different 
leaders  struggled  among  themselves  for  leadership,  so 
that  the  people  prayed  for  the  arrival  of  the  Romans 
to  end  the  terrible  civil  condition.  The  end  soon 
came.  It  was  the  Passover  week  of  70  a.  d.  Thou- 
sands were  in  the  sacred  city,  some  were  there  because 
of  the  Passover  custom,  many  were  there  because 
driven  in  by  the  advance  of  the  Roman  army. 

As  Titus  rode  around  the  city,  he  viewed  a  strong 
fortress.  Behind  three  high  thick  walls  rose  the 
beautiful  Temple  "  like  a  mount  of  snow  fretted  with 
golden  pinnacles."  Night  and  day  the  Romans  toiled 
until  their  battering-rams  and  great  machines  for  the 


22  THE    HISTORY    OF   CHRISTIANITY 

discharge  of  arrows  and  stones  were  in  place.  Then 
the  siege  began.  Day  after  day  it  continued.  The 
Jews  fought  desperately.  Once  when  a  breach  was 
made  in  the  wall,  "  they  manned  it  boldly  and  made  a 
wall  of  their  own  bodies,  fighting  three  days  without 
intermission."  As  one  wall  after  another  was  taken 
and  the  people  were  crowded  towards  the  Temple,  the 
famine  within  became  more  terrible  than  the  besiegers 
without.  Miserable  morsels  were  seized  from  young 
children  and  old  men,  and  the  wealthy  were  tortured 
until  they  opened  their  stores. 

When  Titus  reached  the  Temple  wall,  he  called  for 
surrender,  that  its  sacred  courts  might  not  be  soiled 
with  bloodshed.  The  Jews  refused  to  comply  with 
his  commands  and  after  many  days  of  fighting  the 
Temple  was  destroyed  by  fire,  a  Roman  soldier  having 
thrown  a  fire  brand  over  its  walls.  Over  a  million 
Jews  were  killed  in  the  siege  and  over  one  hundred 
thousand  sent  to  the  Roman  mines. 

In  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  there  came  to  an 
end  the  Jewish  nation  that  formed  the  centre  of  Old 
and  New  Testament  time.  The  Temple  has  never 
been  rebuilt,  a  sacrifice  has  never  since  been  offered. 
How  completely  was  Christ's  prophecy  fulfilled  "  For 
the  days  shall  come  upon  thee,  when  thine  enemies 
shall  cast  up  a  bank  about  thee,  and  compass  thee 


THE    BEGINNING  23 

round  and  keep  thee  in  on  every  side,  and  shall  dash 
thee  to  the  ground,  and  thy  children  within  thee  ;  and 
they  shall  not  leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon  another  " 
(Luke  19  :  43).  In  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  "  the 
cradle  of  Christianity  ceased  to  be  its  nursery.  So  it 
forgot  the  tongue  of  its  birthplace  and  learned  the 
speech  of  its  new  motherland." 

4.  Christian  Martyrs :  Ignatius  and  Polycarp. 

We  have  now  to  see  how  Christianity  made  its  way 
in  the  Roman  world.  We  have  already  seen  that  the 
Romans  hated  the  Jews  and  Christians  alike.  This 
hatred  was  due  in  large  measure  to  the  conflict  be- 
tween the  Roman  and  Christian  idea  of  worship.  The 
Roman  worshiped  idols  and  the  Emperor  as  supreme ; 
the  Christian  worshiped  Christ  as  King  and  would  not 
bow  down  to  the  Emperor.  For  this  reason  the 
Romans  considered  the  Christians  enemies  to  the 
state,  suspected  them  of  high  treason  and  guilty  of 
death. 

It  soon  became  the  custom  to  lead  a  person  accused 
of  being  a  Christian  to  a  little  altar  placed  before  an 
image  of  the  Emperor.  If  the  Christian  would  throw 
some  incense  on  the  altar  fire,  he  was  acquitted,  if  he 
would  not,  he  was  condemned. 

To  get  a  good  idea  of  the  life  of  this  terrible 
time  let  us  look  at  the  lives  of  some  of  the  men  who 


24  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

lived  then,  and  see  how  the  Roman  Empire  and  Chris- 
tian religion  were  in  conflict. 

First  we  will  go  to  Antioch,  that  beautiful  city  in 
the  north  of  Palestine,  the  capital  of  the  eastern  por- 
tion of  the  empire.  A  venerable  man  by  the  name 
of  Ignatius  was  the  bishop  of  the  Christians.  Igna- 
tius had  known  St.  John  and  some  of  the  other 
Apostles  and  had  been  urged  by  them  to  preside  over 
the  Church  at  Antioch.  About  forty  years  after  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem,  when  Trajan,  the  Roman  Emperor 
was  visiting  the  city  of  Antioch,  it  happened  that 
there  had  just  been  a  series  of  public  disasters,  and,  as 
was  the  custom,  the  blame  was  laid  on  the  Christians. 
The  whole  trouble  was  brought  before  the  Emperor, 
and  he  commanded  that  Ignatius  be  arrested  and 
brought  before  him.  The  account  of  the  trial  which 
has  come  down  to  us  is  as  follows : 

Being  introduced  into  Trajan's  presence  he  was 
thus  addressed  by  him :  "  What  an  impious  spirit  art 
thou,  both  to  transgress  our  commands  and  to  inveigle 
others  into  the  same  folly  to  their  ruin."  Ignatius 
answered,  "  Theophorus  ought  not  to  be  called  so,  for- 
asmuch as  all  wicked  spirits  are  departed  far  from  the 
servants  of  God.  But  if  you  call  me  impious  because 
I  am  hostile  to  evil  spirits,  I  own  the  charge  in  that 
respect,  for  I  dissolve  all  their  snares  through  the  in- 


THE    BEGINNING  2$ 

ward  support  of  Christ  the  heavenly  King."  Trajan: 
"  Pray,  who  is  Theophorus  ?  "  Ignatius  :  "  He  who 
has  Christ  in  his  breast."  Trajan :  "  And  thinkest 
thou  not  that  gods  reside  in  us,  who  fight  for  us 
against  our  enemies  ?  "  Ignatius  :  "  You  mistake  in 
caUing  the  demons  of  the  nations  by  the  name  of 
gods ;  for  there  is  only  one  God,  who  made  heaven 
and  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  is  in  them ;  and  one 
Jesus  Christ,  His  only-begotten  son,  whose  kingdom 
be  my  portion."  Trajan :  "  His  kingdom,  do  you 
say,  who  was  crucified  under  Pilate  ? "  Ignatius : 
"  His,  who  crucified  my  sin  with  its  author,  and  has 
put  all  the  fraud  and  malice  of  Satan  under  the  feet 
of  those  who  carry  Him  in  their  heart."  Trajan : 
"  Dost  thou  then  carry  Him  who  was  crucified  within 
thee?"  Ignatius  :  "  I  do ;  for  it  is  written,  I  dwell  in 
them  and  walk  in  them."  Then  Trajan  pronounced 
this  sentence  against  him  :  "  Since  Ignatius  confesses 
that  he  carries  within  himself  Him  that  was  crucified, 
we  command  that  he  be  carried,  bound,  by  soldiers  to 
great  Rome,  there  to  be  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts  for 
the  entertainment  of  the  people." 

Immediately  after  the  trial  the  venerable  bishop  was 
started  for  Rome  under  a  military  escort.  In  those 
days  it  was  a  long,  hard  journey.  If  you  wish  to 
trace  it  on  the  map,  it  was  as  follows  :  first  to  Seleucia, 


26  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

thence  they  sailed  to  Smyrna,  then  Troas,  Neapolis 
across  Macedonia,  across  the  Adriatic  and  so  around 
to  Puteoli,  Ostea,  and  Rome.  In  a  way  it  was  a  tri- 
umphal journey,  for  all  along  the  route,  Christians 
came  to  offer  sympathy  and  to  receive  the  good 
bishop's  teachings.  When  they  reached  Rome  the 
games  were  in  progress,  the  old  man  was  hurried  to 
the  amphitheatre  and  the  wild  beasts  were  let  loose 
upon  him.  Thus  died  one  of  the  men  who  stands  as 
a  link  between  the  Apostolic  Days  and  the  times  we  are 
studying.  He  preferred  death  to  denying  Christianity. 
When  Ignatius  stopped  at  Smyrna,  among  those 
who  visited  him  was  a  man  about  forty-five  years  old, 
named  Polycarp.  He  was  a  prominent  bishop  in  the 
Eastern  Church.  He  also  had  been  a  disciple  of  St. 
John  who  had  appointed  him  Bishop  of  Smyrna. 
Tradition  tells  us  that  Polycarp  was  born  a  slave,  and 
was  reared  in  the  house  of  a  noble,  Christian  woman. 
This  shows  us  that  a  slave  as  well  as  a  freeman  could 
become  a  bishop.  Many  years  after  Ignatius  passed 
through  Smyrna  a  plague  swept  over  the  land  for 
which  the  Christians  were  blamed.  In  the  persecution 
that  was  begun,  Polycarp,  then  an  old  man,  was  urged 
to  withdraw  from  the  city  for  safety.  Yielding  to  the 
persuasion  of  his  friends,  he  sought  shelter  at  a  farm 
not  far  from  the  city,  but  his  hiding-place  was  be- 


THE   BEGINNING  2/ 

trayed  by  two  Christian  slaves  under  torture  and  al- 
though escape  was  made  possible,  yet  the  venerable 
bishop  refused  to  avail  himself  of  it.  Seized  by  the 
soldiers  the  old  man  bowed  his  head  and  said,  "  The 
will  of  God  be  done."  He  then  ordered  food  for  his 
captors  and  spent  in  prayer  the  two  hours  they  spent 
in  resting  and  refreshing  themselves.  He  was  carried 
straight  to  the  arena  and  the  multitude  was  greatly 
excited  by  his  appearance.  When  asked  to  retract, 
he  refused.  "  Swear !  Retract !  Say  :  Away  with 
the  godless,"  cried  the  proconsul.  Polycarp  repeated 
the  words,  but  the  gesture  of  his  hand  showed  that  by 
"  godless  "  he  meant  the  fanatical  spectators.  "  Blas- 
pheme Christ !  "  cried  the  proconsul,  "  and  you  shall 
go  free ! "  The  aged  man  straightened  up  and  re- 
plied :  "  Eighty  and  six  years  have  I  served  Christ 
and  He  has  never  done  me  wrong.  How  can  I  blas- 
pheme my  King  who  has  saved  me  ?  "  Then  the  con- 
demnation came.  The  herald  advanced  into  the 
middle  of  the  arena  and  thrice  proclaimed :  "  Poly- 
carp has  professed  himself  a  Christian."  The  popu- 
lace demanded  that  he  be  thrown  to  the  lions,  shout- 
ing, "  This  is  the  overthrower  of  our  gods,  this  is  the 
perverter  of  our  worship."  But  as  the  games  were 
over  there  were  no  beasts  left.  Then  went  up  the 
cry  that   he   be  burned.     Naked  and  bound  to  the 


28  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

Stake,  Polycarp  uttered  a  beautiful  prayer  in  which  he 
thanked  God  for  being  permitted  to  be  a  martyr. 
After  the  torch  was  appHed,  and  as  the  flames  swept 
up  around  him,  an  officer  plunged  a  sword  into  his 
body  to  lessen  his  agony. 

This  wonderful  sacrifice  made  a  deep  impression  on 
the  populace  and  the  persecution  at  Smyrna  ceased. 
Polycarp  was  a  true  hero  of  the  early  Christian  days, 
of  rare  goodness  and  unfaltering  faithfulness. 

5.  General  Persecutions  and  Christian  Victories. 

We  have  studied  the  lives  of  only  two  men  who 
suffered  as  martyrs.  There  were  many  more.  In  fact, 
from  the  day  Stephen  was  stoned,  up  to  300  a.  d.  the 
pagan  people  acted  with  more  or  less  cruelty  towards 
the  Christians. 

From  50  A.  D.  to  250  a.  d.  the  persecutions  were 
carried  on  first  in  one  place  and  then  in  another,  due 
more  or  less  to  local  disturbances.  Up  to  this  time 
there  had  been  no  order  from  the  Emperor  for  a  gen- 
eral persecution.  But  in  249  a.  d.  it  was  discovered 
by  the  Romans  that  the  Christians  had  tremendous 
power.  In  Rome  alone  there  were  at  least  twenty 
thousand  Christians.  Then  it  was  that  the  Emperor 
Decius  ordered  a  general  persecution  of  the  Christians 
for  the  purpose  of  cutting  them  out  of  the  life  of  the 
empire.     This  plan  begun  by  Decius  was  followed  to 


THE    BEGINNING  29 

a  greater  or  less  degree  by  other  emperors.  Churches 
which  had  been  built  in  the  cities  where  a  measure  of 
toleration  had  been  allowed,  were  destroyed  ;  sacred 
books  were  burned  and  Christians  butchered  by 
frenzied  and  almost  insane  soldiers.  But  all  to  no 
purpose.  The  greater  the  persecution  the  more  the 
ranks  of  the  Christians  seemed  to  swell.  Thousands 
of  both  sexes  crowded  to  martyrdom,  exhausted  the 
fires  and  wearied  the  sword,  until  the  Emperor  Gale- 
rius  (306-310)  in  sore  sickness,  recognized  that  he  must 
draw  back.  While  lying  on  his  sick  bed,  he  issued  an 
edict  of  general  toleration,  and  confessed  that  the 
Christians  had  conquered.  The  work  thus  begun  was 
ended  by  Constantine,  who,  by  an  edict  issued  in 
Milan  in  313,  placed  Christianity  on  the  same  level 
and  gave  it  the  same  rights  as  paganism. 

To  what  was  the  victory  of  the  Christians  owing  ? 
To  the  steadfastness  and  heroic  courage  of  its  follow- 
ers ?  By  no  means.  We  must  not  think  that  all  the 
Christians  persecuted  were  like  the  Apostolic  Chris- 
tians, like  Ignatius  and  Polycarp.  The  Church  had 
changed  very  much  since  their  day.  It  had,  in  con- 
tact with  the  Roman  world,  partaken  of  the  worldly 
spirit.  Some  of  the  clergy  lived  in  luxury  and  idle- 
ness, while  many  who  called  themselves  Christians 
lived   lives    of    hatred,    enmity,   envy,    ambition  and 


30  THE    HISTORY   OF    CHRISTIANITY 

worldly  covetousness.  Emperor  Decius,  in  250,  de- 
scribes the  Christians  as  men  who  had  fallen  from 
their  ideal.  Such  Christians  when  they  were  threat- 
ened gave  up  their  faith  and  cast  incense  on  the  altar 
fire  in  order  to  save  their  property,  position  and  life. 
The  number  of  faithless  Christians  was  enormous. 
But  still  Christianity  conquered,  conquered  in  spite  of 
the  faithless  ones,  conquered  because  it  had  an  imper- 
ishable light,  an  eternal  power  that  sooner  or  later  will 
always  win.  This  is  the  wonder  of  Christianity,  it 
"  endures  solely  in  consequence  of  the  living  power 
of  its  religion,  it  conquers  by  the  power  of  divine 
truth  which  is  mightier  than  all  the  powers  of  an 
earthly  life." 

6.  Early  Organization. 

While  all  the  persecutions  were  going  on  Christian- 
ity was  being  outwardly  moulded  by  the  empire,  and 
in  its  divine  strength  was  inwardly  converting  the 
empire. 

The  clear  stream  cannot  flow  from  the  mountain  to 
the  sea  without  being  tainted  and  discolored  by  the 
various  roots  and  clay  over  which  it  passes.  Chris- 
tianity has  had  this  experience.  Again  and  again  it 
has  been,  and  is  to-day,  tainted  and  discolored  by 
the  conditions  it  meets.  This  is  a  wonderful  process 
with   which    we    must    not   find   fault,  but  which  we 


THE   BEGINNING  3 1 

must  Study  and  understand  and  by  which  we  must 
profit. 

We  must  appreciate  the  great  difference  between 
the  Christian  rehgion  and  the  pagan  rehgion.  The 
simple  worship  of  the  Christians  consisting  of  prayer, 
praise  and  reading,  was  not  easily  understood  by  the 
pagans.  They  had  been  accustomed  to  many  gods 
with  mysterious  rites  and  symbols.  Thus,  as  new  con- 
verts came  in,  the  Christian  worship  seemed  cold  and 
meaningless  to  them.  To  overcome  this,  the  simple 
customs  of  the  Christians  were  changed  to  satisfy  the 
desires  of  the  new  converts.  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  became  mysterious  rites  performed  only  in  the 
presence  of  those  who  were  already  Christians.  Beau- 
tiful vestments  and  spectacular  ceremonials  were 
adopted  in  order  that  the  pagan  converts  might  feel  at 
home  in  the  Christian  Church.  The  demand  of  these 
pagan  converts  was  for  a  religion  that  was  visible,  and 
the  Christians  gratified  that  demand.  But  the  Roman 
converts  demanded  still  more  ;  they  loved  order  and 
formal  government,  they  were  used  to  being  com- 
manded by  those  who  had  authority.  This  idea  was 
wrought  into  Christianity.  The  Church  came  to  have 
officers ;  patriarchs,  metropolitans,  bishops,  priests, 
deacons,  acolytes,  etc.,  who  had  duties  to  perform  and 
authority   to   exercise.     Long   before  Constantine,  a 


32  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

bishop  in  the  Church  became  a  man  of  such  importance, 
that  when  he  went  about  he  was  dressed  in  gorgeous 
robes  and  followed  by  a  retinue,  like  a  prince.  This 
was  the  result  of  simple  Christians  coming  in  contact 
with  the  wealth  and  power  of  a  great  empire.  There 
was  quite  a  difference  between  the  Apostles  Peter  and 
John  and  the  bishops  of  the  fourth  century.  Slowly 
the  way  was  being  prepared  for  what  actually  hap- 
pened, viz. :  a  transformed  Roman  Empire,  with  a 
pope  for  the  emperor,  bishops  for  procurators,  a  priest- 
hood for  magistrates,  taxes,  laws, — in  fact  a  unified 
religious  power  that  was  to  hold  together  for  a  time,  a 
civilized  world. 

7.  Two  Organizers :  TertuUian  and  Cyprian. 

Prominent  among  those  who  were  converted  and 
who  in  turn  influenced  Christianity  as  above  described, 
was  TertuUian. 

He  was  born  in  Carthage  about  160.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  Roman  centurion  and  was  brought  up  in  a 
pagan  household.  As  his  home  was  in  Carthage,  one 
of  the  main  seats  of  learning  in  the  Roman  Empire, 
it  was  possible  for  him  to  receive  a  scholarly  educa- 
tion. He  acquired  the  Greek  language  and  literature, 
and  particularly  rhetoric  and  law.  As  a  young  man, 
he  lived  a  wild  and  reckless  life.  Between  thirty  and 
forty  he  was  converted  to  Christianity  and  became  a 


THE   BEGINNING  33 

presbyter  in  the  church  at  Carthage.  Here  he  brought 
to  bear  on  the  Church  all  his  ability  and  especially  did 
he  leave  a  legal  stamp  on  all  his  work.  His  was  a  fiery 
nature,  rich  in  imagination,  witty  and  fascinating,  but 
endowed  also  with  a  good  share  of  common  sense  and 
appreciation  of  what  is  solid  and  worth  while.  The 
elevation  of  the  office  of  bishop  to  a  position  of  great 
authority  was  due  largely  to  him.  He  argued  that 
Christ  chose  twelve  apostles  and  destined  them  to  be 
the  teachers  of  nations.  "  They  then  in  like  manner 
founded  churches  in  every  city,  from  which  all  the 
other  churches,  one  after  another,  derived  the  tradition 
of  the  faith,  and  the  seeds  of  doctrine,  and  are  every 
day  deriving  them,  that  they  may  become  churches. 
Indeed  it  is  on  this  account  only,  that  they  will  be  able 
to  deem  themselves  apostolic,  as  being  of  the  offspring 
of  Apostolic  churches."  Such  was  his  idea  of  the 
bishop,  whom  he  endowed  with  special  divine  author- 
ity to  proclaim  the  Gospel.  "  Since  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  sent  the  Apostles  to  preach,  no  others  ought  to 
be  received  as  preachers  than  those  whom  Christ  ap- 
pointed, for  no  man  knoweth  the  Father  save  the  Son 
and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal  Him." 

Later  in  life  Tertullian  left  the  Church  and  joined 
one  of  the  numerous  sects  that  sprang  up  at  this  time. 
Here  he  modified  his  views,  but  he  has  always  been 


34  THE    HISTORY   OF    CHRISTIANITY  ■     -. 

remembered  as  a  man  with  strong  opinions,  daring 
courage  and  marked  sincerity  that  won  him  constant 
respect.  We  know  httle  of  his  later  Hfe.  His  death  is 
said  to  have  taken  place  at  about  220  when  he  was  a 
very  old  man.  It  was  with  Tertullian  that  Christians 
began  to  write  their  books  in  Latin,  before  they  had 
used  Greek  and  a  form  of  Hebrew  called  Aramaic. 

Another  strong  character  of  this  time,  who  was 
converted  from  Paganism  and  in  turn  influenced 
Christianity  strongly,  was  Cyprian.  Born  of  a  pagan 
family  in  Carthage,  he,  like  Tertullian,  was  educated  in 
law,  and  later  became  a  teacher  of  rhetoric.  He  was 
converted  when  about  thirty-five  years  old  and  passed 
rapidly  through  the  first  orders  of  the  Christian  minis- 
try. When  the  Bishopric  of  Carthage  was  vacant  th^ 
people  crowded  around  his  house  and  forced  him  to 
take  that  honorable  office.  In  the  general  persecu- 
tions, he  was  arrested  and  brought  before  the  pro- 
consul. 

Proconsul :  "  Art  thou  Cyprian,  the  bishop  of  so 
many  impious  men  ?  The  most  sacred  emperor  com- 
mands thee  to  sacrifice  !  " 

Cyprian :     "  I  will  not  sacrifice  !  " 
Proconsul :     "  Consider  well  what  thou  dost !  " 
Cyprian  :    "  There  is  no  need  of  consideration,  do  as 
thou  art  commanded." 


THE    BEGINNING  35 

Then  the  proconsul  dcHvered  the  sentence  of  con- 
demnation. "  Cyprian,  thou  hast  Hved  long  in  thy 
impiety,  and  assembled  around  thee  many  men  in- 
volved in  the  same  wicked  conspiracy.  Thou  hast 
shown  thyself  an  enemy  alike  to  the  gods  and  the 
laws  of  the  empire.  .  .  .  Thou  must  expiate  thy 
crime  with  thy  blood."  Cyprian  replied,  "  God  be 
thanked." 

So  affected  were  the  multitude  of  Christians  around 
him  that  they  cried,  "  Let  us  go  and  be  beheaded  with 
him."  He  was  removed  to  a  neighboring  field  where 
he  spent  a  short  time  in  prayer.  Then  he  gave  a  con- 
siderable present  to  the  executioners,  bowed  his  head 
and  submitted  to  the  stroke.  The  date  of  this  was 
258  A.  D. 

Cyprian  had  continued  the  work  of  Tertullian,  em- 
phasizing the  importance  of  the  bishop  and  the  need 
of  transmitting  the  sacred  powers  of  Christianity  from 
one  to  another,  claiming  that  in  that  transmission  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  carried  on  in  the  world. 

It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  the  career  of  the 
Church   as   a  legal  institution  was  started  by  "  two 
vigorous  practical  lawyers  and  politicians." 
8.  Creed. 

While  the  Romans  effected  the  organization  of  the 
Church,  they   also    effected    its    faith.     There   was   a 


36  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

general  demand  for  a  definite  statement  of  the  relation 
of  God,  to  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  was 
need  of  an  easily  grasped  standard  which  could  be 
given  to  a  man  who  wished  to  become  a  Christian. 
Out  of  these  needs  came  various  controversies,  for 
men  could  not  agree  in  regard  to  doctrinal  statements. 
We  will  notice  the  effect  of  the  controversy  when  we 
study  the  General  Councils  later. 

As  a  demand  for  a  simple  statement  of  faith,  the 
creed  known  as  the  Apostles'  came  into  existence.  We 
know  little  about  its  origin.     It  first  read  as  follows : 

"  I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty ;  and  in 
Jesus  Christ  His  only  Son,  our  Lord  ;  who  was  born 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  Mary  the  Virgin ;  under 
Pontius  Pilate  was  crucified  and  buried  ;  on  the  third 
day  He  rose  from  the  dead ;  He  ascended  into 
heaven  ;  He  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  ; 
from  thence  He  shall  come  to  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead  ;  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit ;  the  Holy  Church  ;  the 
forgiveness  of  sins  ;  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh." 

What  made  this  creed  of  value  was  that  it  confined 
itself  to  the  actual  events  which  were  known  to  be 
true.  This  commended  it  to  the  Christian  Church  as 
it  could  be  grasped  by  the  simplest  mind.  We  must 
think  of  the  organization  and  Creeds  of  the  Church  as 
the  outcome  of  Roman  influence  on  Christianity. 


THE    BEGINNING  37 

g.  The  Missionary  Spirit. 

During  these  days  described,  there  was  great  mis- 
sionary activity.  All  over  the  world,  passed  devoted 
souls,  whose  one  purpose  was  to  tell  the  Christian 
story  to  all  nations.  Their  custom  was  to  travel  by 
twos,  and  sometimes  in  companies  of  twelve.  We 
have  traces  of  their  work  in  Persia,  India,  Armenia, 
North  Africa,  Gaul,  Britain,  Rhine  Provinces  and 
many  minor  provinces. 

10.  The  Worship  and  Life  of  Early  Christians. 

Hand  in  hand  with  the  formation  of  the  organiza- 
tion and  belief  of  the  early  Christians,  grew  the  neces- 
sity of  forming  a  symmetrical  divine  service.  As  the 
number  of  Christians  increased  it  became  impossible 
to  hold  services  in  private  houses.  When  a  public 
place  was  provided,  the  people  assembled,  the  officers, 
sitting  at  a  large  table  at  one  end  of  the  room  and  the 
people  standing  before  them.  The  first  part  of  the 
service  consisted  of  singing  of  psalms  and  hymns, 
prayers  and  an  address  or  several  addresses  on  the 
Old  Testament  scripture,  or  the  Gospel  story.  After 
this  part  came  the  second.  All  who  were  not  of  the 
community  were  driven  out  and  then  the  faithful  who 
remained  celebrated  the  Lord's  Supper  in  a  simple 
manner. 

The  life  was  simple.  If  any  one  who  attended  the  first 


38  THE    HISTORY   OF    CHRISTIANITY 

part  of  the  service  was  impressed  and  wished  to  join  the 
community,  he  became  what  was  called  a  catechumen, 
and  after  much  instruction,  was  baptized  and  confirmed 
by  the  bishop.  On  Sunday,  in  remembrance  of  the  Res- 
urrection, they  came  together  for  prayer  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  on  Wednesday  and  Friday  they  fasted 
in  remembrance  of  Christ's  betrayal  and  crucifixion. 

II.  Fall  of  Paganism. 

We  found  that  the  early  persecutions  of  the  Chris- 
tians ended  with  Constantine.  We  now  return  to  that 
character,  for  with  him  a  new  era  began  for  Chris- 
tianity. 

Constantine  (born  274,  died  337)  was  the  son  of  the 
Emperor  Constantius.  His  mother,  whose  name  was 
Helena,  was  a  woman  of  humble  birth.  As  a  youth 
he  became  well  known  for  his  bravery  and  ability 
through  the  military  service  he  performed  in  Egypt. 
He  was  greatly  loved  by  the  people  who  desired  that  he 
should  become  Emperor  in  place  of  two  or  three  men 
who  ruled  over  a  divided  empire.  You  must  remem- 
ber that  the  Roman  Empire  was  becoming  very  cor- 
rupt, and  a  sure  sign  of  corruption  is  the  striving  of 
different  men  for  the  highest  position.  To  become 
sole  ruler  Constantine  was  obliged  to  conquer  the 
other  men.  It  was  in  312,  while  he  was  fighting  bat- 
tles with  these  men,  and  being  successful,  that  he  said 


THE   BEGINNING  39 

he  had  a  vision  of  a  cross  of  Hght  in  the  sky  with  the 
words,  "By  This  Conquer."  A  httle  later  he  claimed 
that  he  had  a  dream  in  which  Christ  came  to  him  and 
told  him  to  put  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  his  banner. 
We  cannot  say  how  true  the  vision  and  the  dream 
were,  but  we  do  know  that  about  this  time  the  cross 
appeared  as  an  army  standard  and  in  313,  the  edict  of 
Milan  was  put  forth,  which  gave,  "  To  the  Christians 
and  to  all  a  free  power  of  following  the  religion  which 
each  willed  to  choose,"  also  the  edict  said  that  all 
property  which  had  been  destroyed  should  be  restored 
"  from  the  public  treasury  and  by  private  persons, 
the  latter  to  be  indemnified  out  of  the  imperial  good- 
will." This  placed  the  religion  of  Christians  along- 
side of  paganism.  Later  (316)  Sunday  was  recognized 
as  a  public  feast  day  and  all  public  business  was  sus- 
pended. In  324  Constantine  achieved  his  ambition 
and  became,  by  conquest  in  battle,  the  sole  ruler  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  With  great  thoroughness  he 
extended  the  Christian  faith  and  worship  throughout 
the  whole  empire  ;  exiles  sent  away  during  the  perse- 
cutions were  recalled  and  offices  of  the  highest  dignity 
were  offered  to  Christians.  Churches  were  built  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  at  Bethlehem  in  the  Holy  Land 
and  elsewhere,  and  were  endowed  out  of  the  common 
fund.     With  great  labor,  many  costly  manuscripts  of 


40  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

the  Bible  were  made.  Gradually  popular  passion 
turned  against  paganism,  temples  were  torn  down  or 
remade  into  Christian  churches,  while  the  wicked, 
sacrificial  and  immoral  pagan  worship  was  suspended 
by  order  of  the  Emperor. 

During  all  these  changes  Constantine  was  not  bap- 
tized. It  was  on  his  death-bed  in  i-^j  that  he  called 
the  bishop  and  had  himself  clothed  in  a  white  robe 
and  received  that  sacred  rite.  This,  with  other  facts 
in  Constantine's  life,  makes  us  feel  that  he  was  not  at 
first  a  Christian  by  conversion.  He  believed  in  a 
divine  guidance  of  human  affairs,  and  he  saw  in  Chris- 
tianity a  great  wholesome  and  uniting  political  power, 
and  regarded  himself  as  the  instrument  of  Providence 
to  make  use  of  that  same  power  for  the  good  of  the 
empire. 

Christianity  had  conquered  paganism.  From  being 
a  despised  and  persecuted  sect,  Christianity  emerged  a 
mighty  and  supreme  religion  upheld  by  the  state. 
How  wonderfully  God  works  in  life.  The  fall  of  Je- 
rusalem sent  the  Christians  over  the  world,  took  away 
from  them  the  mother  element  which  might  have 
weakened  them,  and  compelled  them  to  conquer  the 
Roman  world  or  die.  Then  the  Romans  persecuted 
them,  but  the  persecutions  instead  of  diminishing  the 
number  increased  it,  until  the  Emperor  as  a  matter  of 


THE   BEGINNING  4 1 

policy  was  obliged  to  recognize  the  new  religion. 
Thus  will  God  aid  any  movement,  any  person,  towards 
victory  if  there  are  present : — devotion  to  truth,  ear- 
nestness and  willingness  to  suffer. 

12.  General  Councils.     Arius  and  Athanasius. 

Christianity  had  triumphed,  but  like  any  triumph,  it 
had  its  dangers.  With  freedom,  honor  and  power, 
greed  and  ambition  greater  than  ever  before,  found 
their  way  into  the  Church.  The  greatest  danger  was 
in  the  fact  that  the  state,  no  longer  a  foe,  but  an  ally, 
demanded  supremacy  as  the  price  of  alliance.  The 
Roman  Emperor  would  not  suffer  another  power  to 
rule  beside  him.  He  had  been  the  head  of  the  Pagan 
religion,  and  he  was  inclined  to  exercise  the  same  su- 
premacy over  the  new.  Evidence  of  this  is  seen  in 
the  right  he  assumed  to  appoint  bishops,  to  exercise 
jurisdiction  in  spiritual  courts,  to  speak  a  deciding 
word  in  dogmatic  controversies,  and  to  summon  coun- 
cils of  the  Christians. 

Already  different  sections  had  held  councils  or  con- 
gresses where  difficulties  were  settled.  These  sections 
were  the  natural  group  of  cities  and  towns  about  the 
three  important  cities : — Rome,  Alexandria  and 
Antioch.  Later  to  these  centres  were  added  Con- 
stantinople and  Jerusalem,  and  these  cities  became  the 
centres  of  the  Church   and  their  bishops  were  called 


42  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

Patriarchs  or  Popes.  Shortly  after  Constantine 
recognized  Christianity,  he  decided  to  exercise  his 
supremacy  and  call  a  general  council  of  the  whole 
Church.  This  council  was  summoned  in  the  year  325 
at  Nicaea,  a  little  city  about  forty  miles  southeast  of 
Constantinople.  It  is  now  a  miserable  Turkish  village 
called  Isnik.  There  were  present  from  fifteen  hundred 
to  two  thousand  bishops,  priests  and  deacons  from  all 
parts  of  the  empire. 

"  The  synod  was  solemnly  opened  in  the  central 
(the  largest)  hall  of  the  palace,  in  which  seats  were  set 
for  the  bishops  on  either  hand.  On  a  given  sign  the 
bishops  rose  from  their  seats  and  Constantine  entered 
in  dazzling  robes  and  dignified  demeanor,  accom- 
panied not  by  a  miUtary  retinue,  but  by  trusted 
friends  ;  he  passed  down  the  middle  of  the  hall  to  the 
low  (not  throne-like)  golden  chair  in  a  prominent  po- 
sition, to  which  on  both  sides  the  seats  of  the  bishops 
converged  in  a  half  circle  ;  but  it  was  only  on  the  ex- 
pression of  the  wish  of  the  bishops  that  he  took  his 
seat.  The  bishop  who  occupied  the  first  seat  on  the 
right  side,  now  rose  to  make  a  poetical  address  to  the 
Emperor  and  praise  God  for  him,  whereupon  Con- 
stantine, with  serene  and  friendly  countenance  looking 
round  about  him  among  the  bishops,  addressed  them  in 
a  soft  voice.     He  extolled  this  as  the  fulfilment  of  his 


THE   BEGINNING  43 

deepest  wish,  that  God,  in  addition  to  all  other  suc- 
cesses, had  vouchsafed  to  him  to  see  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Church  gathered  around  him  in  unanimity, 
and  forcibly  exhorted  them  to  guard  and  maintain 
this  peace,  as  most  justly  beseemed  the  servants  of 
God."  We  must  notice  that  there  was  no  bishop  from 
Rome  present,  he  being  an  old  man  sent  two  priests, 
who  took  no  part  of  importance  in  the  council. 

The  two  men  of  greatest  importance  that  must  be 
remembered  are  Arius  and  Athanasius.  The  great- 
est debate  of  the  session  took  place  over  two  opposing 
ideas  championed  by  these  two  men.  Arius  was  an 
older  man  than  Athanasius  ;  he  was  tall  with  fine  cut, 
sharp  features,  very  polite,  elegant  in  dress,  a  keen 
mind,  ready  speech,  good  in  logic,  and  a  hard  man  to 
meet  in  argument.  Although  he  came  from  Alexan- 
dria, he  had  been  brought  up  in  Antioch  where  he  be- 
longed to  a  school  which  sharply  separated  the  divine 
from  the  human.  Arius  tried  to  convince  the  council 
that  God  was  very  far  away  and  beyond  the  humanity 
of  the  world,  and  that  Christ  was  between  God  and 
man,  above  man  and  yet  not  equal  to  God.  Arius  was 
really  reverting  to  a  kind  of  Jewish  religion  with  Christ 
in  it.  That  was  natural  for  him,  because  he  had  been 
brought  up  in  Antioch  where  Jewish  influence  was 
strong.     Athanasius  was  a  young  man  of  deep  feeUng 


44  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

and  great  determination.  He  was  born  and  always 
lived  in  Alexandria,  under  the  influence  of  the  Greek 
school  of  Christianity  which  taught  that  God  was 
everywhere,  and  especially  in  the  hearts  of  men.  He 
said  that  Jesus  Christ  was  of  the  '•  veiy  substance  of 
God.  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  very  God  of  very 
God." 

Athanasius  won  and  a  creed  was  formulated  which 
later  was  enlarged  into  the  Nicene  Creed  which  is  in 
the  Prayer  Book.  Athanasius  had  to  suffer  for  his 
victory  later,  for  the  idea  voiced  by  Arius  had  many 
followers  in  the  East  who  persecuted  Athanasius.  He 
was  obliged  to  flee  to  Rome.  But  he  held  to  his  truth 
and  to-day  his  memory  is  honored  as  a  man  who 
would  stand  firmly  for  what  he  believed  to  be  true. 

During  the  next  three  hundred  years  five  more 
councils  were  held.  In  them  many  bitter  discussions 
took  place  and  the  result  of  them  was  division  rather 
than  union.  This  division  was  increased  when  Con- 
stantine  moved  the  capital  from  Rome  to  Constanti- 
nople. This  was  the  first  step  in  dividing  Christendom 
into  the  East  and  the  West.  With  the  Emperor's  re- 
moval from  Rome  the  Bishop  of  Rome  became  the 
first  citizen,  exercising  temporal  supremacy  as  well  as 
spiritual.  As  time  went  on  both  people,  and  churches, 
began  to  appeal  to  him  as  a  judge,  going  to  Rome  to 


THE   BEGINNING  45 

the  bishop,  because  Rome  was  the  old  imperial  city. 
This  displeased  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople  very- 
much,  he  felt  that  he,  as  the  bishop  of  the  capital  city, 
should  be  the  source  of  appeal.  The  whole  subject 
was  again  and  again  introduced  into  the  councils  with 
no  good  result,  for  the  harder  the  issue  was  fought,  the 
more  clearly  it  was  seen  that  the  East  must  divide  from 
the  West,  and  there  must  eventually  be  a  Greek  Church 
and  a  Roman  Church. 

As  we  look  back  on  those  days  we  can  see  a  greater 
reason  for  the  division  than  simply  the  ambition  of 
two  rival  bishops.  We  can  see  that  the  separation  was 
the  first  great  step  in  an  onward  development,  and  the 
history  of  Christianity  was  more  glorious  because  the 
West  was  delivered  from  the  East,  for  that  part  of  the 
world  was  going  backward,  sinking  into  a  sleep  from 
which,  even  to-day,  it  has  not  awakened.  The  sepa- 
ration was  finally  due  to  one  man  who  became  in  reality 
the  first  Pope  of  the  Roman  Church. 

13.  Leo  First.  Bishop  of  Rome  from  440-461. 
The  Barbarian  Invasions. 

Leo  I  became  Bishop  of  Rome  when  conditions 
were  favorable  to  the  successful  carrying  out  of  his 
ambition.  In  Gaul  a  kingdom  was  in  formation  that 
was  destined  to  control  the  Roman  Empire  and  was 
now  hastening  its  decay.     Pressing  on  the  northern 


46  THE    HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

boundary  lines  were  fierce  barbarian  tribes  who  looked 
across  the  Danube  with  envious  eyes.  Within  the 
empire  was  undermined,  the  citizen  as  a  soldier  had 
ceased  to  be,  and  whole  tribes  of  barbarians  were  hired 
and  placed  in  the  army.  The  Christian  Church  was 
the  only  strong  institution.  She  alone  had  power  over 
the  lives  of  men.  The  time  was  ripe  for  a  strong 
minded,  energetic  man  to  make  the  office  of  Bishop  of 
Rome  the  controlling  power  of  the  world.  Leo  was 
that  man.  He  took  up  the  sceptre  that  the  Roman 
Emperor  was  allowing  to  fall. 

Born  of  humble  parentage  in  an  obscure  town  of 
Italy,  he  was  only  a  deacon  on  a  mission  in  Gaul, 
when  the  clergy  and  people  of  Rome  elected  him 
bishop  or  pope  as  he  was  now  frequently  called. 
Pope  means  father  and  is  the  title  once  given  to  all 
priests  and  is  even  to-day  in  the  Greek  Church. 
Amid  great  enthusiasm  they  brought  Leo  back  to 
Rome  and  ordained  him  priest  and  bishop.  What  the 
churches  had  conceded  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  Leo 
immediately  demanded  as  his  right.  Leo  determined 
to  be  pope  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name. 

Soon  after  Leo  was  made  bishop,  he  had  trouble 
with  one  of  the  bishops  of  Gaul  and  because  of  this 
he  secured  a  law  from  the  Emperor,  the  latter  part  of 
which    ran  as  follows :     "  We  decree,  by  a  perpetual 


THE   BEGINNING  47 

sanction,  that  nothing  shall  be  attempted  against 
ancient  custom  by  the  bishops  of  Gaul,  or  other 
provinces,  without  the  authority  of  the  Venerable 
Pope  of  the  Eternal  City ;  but  whatever  the  authority 
of  the  Apostolic  Chair  ordains  shall  be  law  to  them, 
so  that,  if  any  bishop  when  commanded  shall  omit  to 
come  to  the  court  of  the  Roman  Bishop,  he  shall  be 
compelled  to  come  by  the  governor  of  the  province." 

Much  of  Leo's  success  came  from  his  charming 
personality.  When  the  fierce  Attila  with  his  bar- 
barian Huns  was  marching  towards  Rome,  it  was  the 
Bishop  Leo  who  at  the  request  of  the  Emperor  and 
Senate  betook  himself  to  the  court  of  the  Hunnish 
King  and  induced  him  to  make  peace  and  withdraw 
beyond  the  Danube.  Later  in  456  when  the  Huns 
were  again  before  the  city,  and  no  terms  were  accepta- 
ble, it  was  Leo  who  handed  the  keys  of  the  city  to 
the  Vandal  King  and  persuaded  him  to  respect  church 
property  and  church  officials,  and  prevent  as  far  as 
possible  murder  and  fire.  For  fourteen  days  the  great 
city  was  plundered,  its  riches  and  its  people  carried 
away.  Leo  is  to  be  remembered  as  the  first  Pope  and 
the  founder  of  the  papal  monarchy.  As  we  watch  the 
developments  of  the  papacy  in  the  succeeding  pages 
we  must  not  condemn  it  too  harshly.  It  was  wrong, 
Jesus  Christ  did  not  teach  that  any  man  should  exer- 


48  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

cise  authority  over  others.  He  said  (Matt.  20:  25), 
"  The  princes  of  this  world  exercise  dominion  and 
authority  but  it  shall  not  be  so  among  you,"  but  we 
should  think  of  it  as  one  of  God's  methods  of  pre- 
serving Christianity  during  the  extension  of  civilization 
over  the  northern  part  of  Europe,  and  the  remodeling 
of  civilization  in  the  southern  part. 

14.  Rise  of  Monasticism  and  Augustine. 

While  so  much  stress  was  being  placed  on  organiza- 
tion and  the  bishops  were  quarreling  for  power,  we 
see  that  the  Church  in  its  worldiness  was  very  far 
from  representing  Christianity,  as  Jesus  Christ  had 
given  it  to  the  world.  The  Church  in  its  worldly  life 
had  gone  to  an  extreme.  But  there  was  another  ex- 
treme that  entered  Christianity  about  the  same  time. 
In  the  days  of  persecution  men  and  women  had  fled 
from  the  world  to  escape  death ;  now  men  who  felt 
that  the  worldly  life  of  the  Church  was  wrong,  began 
to  live  away  from  the  world,  hoping  in  the  solitude  of 
a  cave  or  desert  to  follow  the  Christian  life  and  gain 
heaven. 

One  of  these  men  was  St.  Anthony.  When  a 
young  man,  Anthony  heard  the  Gospel  story  of  the 
rich  young  man  who  was  told  by  Christ  to  sell  all  that 
he  had  and  give  to  the  poor.  This  story  made  him 
think.     He  was  rich  and  yet  he  wanted  to  be  a  true 


THE   BEGINNING  49 

follower  of  Christ.  He  thought  about  the  matter  so 
much  that  he  finally  believed  demons  were  around 
him  tempting  him.  So  he  sold  all  his  property, 
divided  the  money  among  the  poor  and  went  into  a 
desert,  determined  to  dedicate  his  life  to  God  and 
battle  with  the  demons  that  tempted  and  terrified  him. 
For  a  long  time  he  lived  in  the  hollow  of  a  tomb,  then 
in  a  deserted  fort,  finally  on  a  deserted  mountainside, 
sustained  by  dates  and  water.  Other  men  followed 
him,  seeking  his  spiritual  guidance  and  living  in  his 
neighborhood,  while  people  of  all  ranks  visited  him, 
seeking  advice  and  council.  One  day  Athanasius, 
when  he  was  being  persecuted  came  to  him  and  re- 
mained with  him  some  time.  Athanasius  afterwards 
wrote  his  life.     In  the  year  356  Anthony  died. 

These  hermits  were  soon  called  monks,  and  their 
settlement  in  villages  gave  rise  to  a  kind  of  community 
life  which  later  led  to  the  monastery.  This  was  a 
large  building  or  series  of  buildings  where  the  monks 
lived  and  worked  and  prayed.  There  was  a  chapel 
with  its  altar  and  choir,  a  dormitory  with  little  cells 
containing  a  hard  bed  and  a  crucifix,  and  a  refectory 
with  a  long  table  and  pulpit  from  which  one  of  the 
monks  read  a  sermon  while  the  others  ate. 

Here  were  two  kinds  of  Christians.  One  was  repre- 
sented by  the  Pope  who  said,  "  Follow  the  instructions 


50  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

of  the  Church  organization  and  you  will  be  saved." 
The  other  was  represented  by  the  monks  who  said, 
"  Leave  the  sinful  world  and  find  salvation  by  prayer- 
ful consecration  to  God,  and  fasting  and  denial."  Of 
the  two  we  can  but  feel  to-day  that  there  was  more 
Christianity  in  the  latter  than  in  the  former.  Between 
these  two  extreme  classes  were  many  men  who,  al- 
though they  remained  in  the  Church,  were  against  the 
extreme  ideas  of  organization  and  authority  and  in 
sympathy  with  their  brethren  who  had  abandoned  its 
protection.  Two  names  should  be  remembered,  Am- 
brose, Archbishop  of  Milan,  374-397,  and  Augustine 
Bishop  of  Hippo,  396-430. 

Ambrose  was  the  son  of  a  Roman  prefect  in  Gaul. 
He  was  educated  for  an  official  position  in  the  state 
and  became  Prefect  of  Liguria.  One  day  in  347  he 
was  fulfilling  his  office  and  presiding  as  the  state  offi- 
cial at  the  election  of  a  bishop.  Party  spirit  ran  high, 
and  there  were  evidences  that  there  would  be  a  riot  in 
the  Church.  The  prefect  called  the  assembly  to  order 
and  made  a  speech  exhorting  the  people  to  peace  and 
unity.  So  deeply  did  he  impress  the  assembly  that 
when  he  concluded  somebody  cried  "  Ambrose  for 
Bishop  !  "  The  cry  was  caught  up  by  the  whole  peo- 
ple and  Ambrose,  the  Roman  Governor,  then  thirty- 
four  years  old,   was   elected  bishop   against  his   will. 


THE    BEGINNING  51 

Milan  was  the  residence  of  the  western  emperor  and 
the  ofifice  of  bishop  was  very  important.  Ambrose 
immediately  set  about  preparing  himself  for  his 
office;  he  studied  theology  and  administration  dili- 
gently, and  soon  became  a  great  preacher.  By  his 
strong  practical  sense,  stateman's  experience  and  lofty 
character,  he  won  great  influence  over  the  Emperor's 
court  and  over  the  people.  He  was  a  very  spiritual 
man  and  favored  monasticism  and  sought  to  bring  about 
in  his  clergy  more  of  the  Christian  spirit  and  Christian 
living  than  was  found  in  the  hermits  and  monks.  He 
treated  high  and  low  alike,  and  even  the  Emperor  found 
that  he  must  obey  Ambrose.  Once  when  the  Emperor 
had  committed  a  terrible  crime,  commanding  seven 
thousand  men  to  be  killed  by  his  soldiers,  Ambrose 
wrote  to  him,  refusing  him  admittance  to  the  Church 
until  he  gave  proofs  of  repentance.  One  day  the 
Emperor  tried  to  enter  the  Church,  but  Ambrose 
stopped  him  in  the  porch  and  asked  him  to  withdraw. 
The  Emperor  spoke  of  his  contrition  but  Ambrose 
said  that  the  crime  was  public,  and  he  must  give  public 
evidence  of  his  repentance.  The  Emperor  submitted ; 
laying  aside  all  his  imperial  robes,  he  went  into  seclu- 
sion for  eight  months.  This  shows  how  bold  and 
brave  Ambrose  was,  but  it  also  shows  that  the  Church 
was  stronger  than  the  state,  and  could  dictate  to  it. 


52  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

The  Other  man  who  took  a  middle  position  between 
the  monastery  and  the  Church  was  Augustine,  Bishop 
of  Hippo  from  396-430.  Augustine  was  born  in 
Carthage  in  354,  son  of  Patricius  and  Monica.  His 
father  was  a  pagan,  his  mother  was  a  Christian,  and  a 
woman  of  great  tenderness  and  piety.  Augustine  wrote 
a  book  called  "  Confessions  "  in  which  he  told  all  about 
his  life,  so  we  know  more  about  him  than  any  other 
man  of  this  period.  When  he  was  young  he  was  very 
wild  and  dissolute,  but  there  were  present  in  him 
wonderful  talents  and  great  ambition  for  all  kinds  of 
knowledge.  He  became  a  rhetorician,  an  orator.  All 
this  time  his  mother  was  very  anxious  for  her  son's 
spiritual  welfare  ;  continually  she  prayed  for  him  and 
from  place  to  place  she  followed  him,  pleading  with  him 
to  become  a  Christian.  When  Augustine  was  twenty- 
eight  he  left  Carthage  and  went  to  Rome  and  from 
Rome  to  Milan.  There  he  met  and  heard  Ambrose 
preach.  Inwardly  he  was  impressed.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  his  awakening.  He  commenced  to  read 
Paul's  epistles  and  one  day,  as  he  was  struggling  with 
temptation  and  feeling  particularly  depressed,  his  eye 
fell  on  that  passage  which  reads  "  Not  in  rioting  and 
drunkenness,  not  in  chambering  and  wantonness,  not 
in  strife  and  envying  ;  but  put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  make  no  provision  for  the  flesh  in  sin." 


THE    BEGINNING  53 

Augustine  says  in  his  confession,  '<  No  further  would  I 
read  ;  nor  needed  I ;  for  instantly  at  the  end  of  the 
sentence,  by  a  light  as  it  were  of  serenity,  infused  into 
my  heart,  all  the  darkness  of  doubt  vanished  away." 
On  Easter  day,  387  a.  d.,  Augustine  was  baptized. 
That  inward  struggle  made  him  appreciate  the  inner 
struggle  of  the  monastic  life  so  that  after  his  conver- 
sion he  retired  to  a  monastery,  but  was  called  from 
that  to  become  Bishop  of  Hippo.  Hippo  was  a  town 
west  of  Carthage,  where  the  town  of  Bona  is  now. 
As  Bishop,  Augustine  became  a  great  preacher  and 
writer.  As  he  had  drank  deeply  of  the  cup  of  sin,  so 
he  convinced  people  of  sin.  But  he  did  not  leave 
them  discouraged,  but  told  them  that  through  Jesus 
Christ  and  baptism  and  communion  in  the  Church 
they  could  be  saved.  All  his  life  he  tried  to  bring 
more  of  the  monastic  spirit  into  the  Church,  and  by 
his  writings  he  made  his  ideas  of  God  and  Christ  and 
the  Church,  the  ideas  of  most  Christian  people  up  to 
the  Protestant  Reformation.  He  was  a  good  man, 
selling  all  his  worldly  possessions  and  giving  to  the 
poor.  He  died  when  he  was  seventy-five  in  the  year 
430. 

Amid  all  the  dark  and  bright  days  of  this  period 
there  was  one  true  and  central  thought  that  held 
Christendom     together.       In     monasticism,    in     the 


54  THE    HISTORY   OF    CHRISTIANITY 

Church  with  its  elaborate  organization,  in  men  like 
Ambrose  and  Augustine  there  was  always  present  the 
conviction  that  God  had  once  visited  this  world  in 
human  form,  that  divine  love  had  been  manifested  in 
the  sacrifice  on  Calvary. 

15.  Missionary  Activity. 

Missionary  work  is  the  foundation  of  the  growth  of 
Christianity.  All  through  these  years  men  had  been 
carrying  the  gospel  in  all  directions.  There  are  a  few 
men  whose  names  we  should  remember.  Some  who 
lived  later  than  this  period,  are  noticed  here  for  con- 
venience. 

Ulfila,  born  about  311,  apostle  to  the  Goths. 

It  is  said  that  he  was  brought  to  Constantinople  as 
a  hostage  for  the  good  conduct  of  his  people.  Here 
he  was  converted  to  Christianity  and  became  a 
"  lector  "  i.  e.,  one  who  reads  the  Bible  to  the  congre- 
gation. In  341  he  was  consecrated  bishop  of  the 
"  Christians  in  Gothia."  For  seven  years  he  worked 
as  pastor  and  preacher  among  his  people  across  the 
Danube.  He  did  not  care  for  the  disputes  of  his 
brethren  in  Rome,  he  cared  more  for  right  living,  and 
those  who  followed  him  lived  very  beautiful  Christian 
lives.  Ulfila  made  the  first  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
the  Gothic  language,  it  was  the  corner-stone  of  Teutonic 
literature.     He  died  in  381  in  Constantinople. 


THE    BEGINNING  55 

Augustine,  Apostle  to  England. 

In  596,  Gregory,  Pope  of  Rome,  sent  Augustine  and 
forty  monks  to  the  British  Isle.  The  Pope's  attention 
had  been  attracted  by  some  ca-ptured  prisoners  who 
had  been  brought  from  this  island.  They  were  so 
beautiful  in  form  and  feature  that  he  longed  to  make 
their  people  Christians.  When  Augustine  landed  he 
met  Ethelbert,  King  of  the  Jutes,  and  made  many 
converts.  He  baptized  Ethelbert  a  year  later.  This 
was  not  the  first  Christian  community  in  England.  In 
the  records  of  the  early  councils  we  find  the  names  ol 
British  bishops.  Thus  we  believe  that  Christianity 
was  first  introduced  into  England  as  it  was  elsewhere, 
by  Roman  soldiers  and  tradesfolk.  Thus  there  came 
to  be  two  Christian  churches  in  Great  Britain  :  an  old 
British  church  with  customs  of  its  own,  and  the 
Church  established  by  Augustine  the  monk.  Augus- 
tine tried  to  unite  these  two  communities,  but  the 
ancient  Church  in  Wales  remained  independent  of  the 
Roman  Church.  Augustine  was  consecrated  bishop 
and  later  archbishop.  He  was  the  first  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.     He  died  in  605. 

Boniface,  Apostle  to  the  Germans. 

Of  a  still  later  date,  680,  was  Boniface,  who  was 
born  in  England.  He  early  became  a  monk,  and 
after   giving   evidence    of   great   ability,    gave    up   a 


56  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

career  in  his  own  country  and  made  a  pilgrimage  to 
Rome.  Here  the  Pope  appointed  him  apostle  to  the 
Germans.  As  a  preacher  and  organizer  he  holds  a 
high  position  in  the  Church,  uniting  the  various 
Christian  communities  of  Germany  and  instituting 
many  new  ones.  On  Whitsunday,  755,  he  sent  word 
for  a  large  number  of  converts  to  meet  him  to  receive 
confirmation.  During  the  service  a  mob  of  heathens 
fell  upon  him  and  slew  him  along  with  his  people, 
whom  he  forbade  to  make  any  resistance. 

The  story  of  Christian  missionary  work  is  long  and 
interesting,  filled  with  men  and  women  who  became 
martyrs  and  heroes  in  order  that  others  might  be 
helped  and  saved. 


DIVISION  TWO 

THE    MIDDLE    AGES 

i6.  Fall  of  the  East. 

When  Christianity  had  conquered  the  Roman  em- 
pire, its  task  was  not  yet  done.  The  barbarian  hordes 
who  had  come  from  the  north  and  touched  the  totter- 
ing empire  causing  it  to  crumble,  became  the  new 
material  on  which  Christianity  must  work.  The  early 
Christian  days  were  occupied  with  the  converting  of 
the  Roman  empire,  the  days  of  the  middle  ages  were 
occupied  with  the  converting  of  the  new  people  from 
the  north.  Christianity  built  its  foundation  of  material 
taken  from  the  Roman  empire,  but  the  structure  raised 
on  the  foundation  was  built  of  material  taken  from 
Gaul,  Germany  and  Britain. 

Before  following  the  success  of  Christianity  in  the 
north  and  west  of  Europe  we  turn  aside  to  see  its  fail- 
ure in  the  east.  From  600  to  750,  like  a  stream  of 
fire  devouring  all  life  before  it,  the  troops  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan conquerors  poured  forth  from  Arabia  over 
Asia  and  Africa.  To  those  whom  they  conquered 
they  offered  their  religion,  tribute,  or  the  sword.     Per- 

57 


58  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

sia,  Palestine,  Syria,  Africa  and  Spain  succumbed.  In 
Jerusalem,  on  the  site  of  Solomon's  Temple,  a  mosque 
was  built.  For  seven  years  Constantinople  was  threat- 
ened. The  West  trembled,  for  fear  that  Christianity 
would  be  destroyed,  the  Koran  substituted  for  the 
Bible,  the  mosque  for  the  church.  In  732  an  army 
began  to  march  into  Gaul  from  Spain.  They  were 
met  by  a  Christian  army  on  the  plains  between  Tours 
and  Poitiers  and  driven  back.  The  West  was  saved  to 
Christianity.  But  the  Eastern  Church  and  the  Eastern 
Empire  were  enclosed  and  fettered  by  a  people  who 
half  tolerated  Christianity,  but  who  could  not  be  con- 
verted. Chilled  and  benumbed  the  Eastern  Church 
became  stagnant,  and  even  to-day  we  see  the  effects  of 
this  terrible  conquest  in  the  Russian  and  Greek 
Churches. 

17.  Beginning  of  the  ^A^est. 

In  the  West  order  came  slowly  out  of  chaos.  The 
conquering  barbarians  from  the  North  were  not  like 
the  Mohammedans  of  the  East.  The  barbarians  came 
for  wealth,  but  they  came  with  a  longing  to  build  an 
empire  like  the  Roman  Empire  which  they  had  over- 
thrown. The  vastness  of  its  organization  awed  them ; 
they  became  envious  of  its  culture,  they  imitated  its 
manners.  But  after  the  empire  had  crumbled,  a  work- 
ing model  remained  in  the  church.     Thus  they  came, 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  59 

respecting  Christianity  the  spiritual  force  in  the 
church,  and  longing  to  build  an  empire  according  to 
the  model  of  the  church  organization.  They  brought 
with  them  willingness  to  adopt  new  ideas,  great  per- 
sonal bravery,  and  the  desire  to  better  life. 

The  one  thing,  that  stood  in  the  way  of  their  build- 
ing an  empire,  was  their  lack  of  union.  Each  tribe 
had  its  chief  and  federation  was  impossible.  The  first 
step  towards  unification  was  taken  by  Clovis,  a  Prank- 
ish chief.  The  Franks  occupied  what  to-day  is  the 
western  part  of  Germany.  Starting  with  a  few  thou- 
sand warriors,  he  soon  conquered  all  of  Gaul,  the  heart 
of  the  Western  Empire.  In  496  Clovis  embraced 
Christianity.  Already  Clotilde,  his  wife,  had  accepted 
Christianity,  and  many  times  she  had  urged  Clovis  to 
abandon  his  idols.  Before  one  of  his  battles  he  vowed 
that  if  the  victory  were  given  him,  he  would  worship 
the  God  of  the  Christians.  The  victory  was  won,  and 
immediately  Clovis  with  three  thousand  of  his  nobles, 
was  baptized.  Some  time  later,  hearing  a  sermon  on 
the  crucifixion,  Clovis  exclaimed,  that  if  he  and  his 
faithful  Franks  had  been  there,  vengeance  would  have 
been  taken  on  the  Jews.  These  incidents  give  a  good 
idea  of  the  character  of  the  people  who  were  to  rebuild 
society. 

In  this  period  of  war  and  struggle,  Christianity  made 


60  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

its  way  by  the  voices  of  its  clergy  being  heard  in  fear- 
less rebuke  and  tender  consolation.  They  came  for- 
ward in  the  affairs  of  town  and  city,  they  were  ambas- 
sadors and  peace-makers,  intercessors  for  the  suffering, 
and  courageous  protectors  of  the  injured.  Without 
force  Christians  met  these  barbarians  and  subdued 
them  by  righteousness,  and  softened  and  restrained 
them  by  the  lesson  of  the  cross. 

i8.  Two  Centres  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

There  were  two  centres  around  which  the  events  of 
the  Middle  Ages  revolved.  They  were  the  Church 
and  the  empire,  the  ecclesiastical  and  political  gov- 
ernments. In  history  it  has  been  proved  that  govern- 
ment is  necessary.  Mankind  does  not  develop  when 
he  leads  a  free  life  like  a  savage,  he  develops  when  he 
places  himself  in  relation  to  other  men  and  all  submit 
to  a  guiding  head,  be  it  a  chief,  a  king,  an  emperor  or 
a  congress.  As  order  began  to  come  out  of  the  chaos 
of  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries,  the  need  of  govern- 
ment was  clearly  recognized.  But  what  kind  of  gov- 
ernment should  it  be  ?  Should  the  Roman  Empire  be 
revived  and  the  Emperor  placed  at  the  head,  or  should 
the  church,  already  so  well  organized,  be  given  in- 
creased power  and  the  Pope  at  Rome  recognized  as 
the  head  ? 

We  are  now  to  watch  the  development  of  these  two 


THE    MIDDLE   AGES  6l 

ideas,  and  their  conflict.  Notice  how  wonderfully 
Christianity  is  preserved  through  these  dark  times, 

19.  Rise  of  Papacy.     Gregory  the  Great,  590-604. 

It  was  natural  that  the  Pope  at  Rome  should  gain 
power  first.  In  the  confusion  that  prevailed  the  Church 
had  all  that  there  was  of  organization;  this  caused 
men,  who  longed  for  union  and  organization,  to  turn  to 
it.  We  must  remember  that  the  popes  of  this  period 
did  not  grasp  power,  or  strive  to  acquire  it;  they 
simply  stood  still  and  received  that  honor  and  power 
which  came  to  them  as  the  willing  offering  of  the 
people. 

In  the  fall  of  the  empire,  in  the  radical  changes 
wrought  by  the  acceptance  of  a  new  religion,  God 
seemed  very  far  away  from  the  world,  and  the  need 
was  felt  for  a  power  that  should  rule  the  world  for  God. 
Augustine's  idea  of  the  Church  was  adopted  and  the 
Church  was  viewed  as  a  refuge, — an  ark  of  deliver- 
ance,— from  the  dark  and  evil  world.  As  Christianity 
progressed  and  more  people  were  converted,  they  be- 
gan to  feel  the  advantage  of  a  central  guiding  power. 
Gradually  the  people  were  brought  under  the  control 
of  the  clergy,  the  clergy  under  the  bishop  and  the 
bishop  under  the  pope,  the  earthly  head  of  the 
Church  ;  thus  was  the  empire  becoming  unified  by 
one  common  faith  and  hope  and  government. 


62  THE   HISTORY   OF    CHRISTIANITY 

The  authority  of  the  Papacy  never  looked  as  ac- 
ceptable to  men  as  it  did  in  the  person  of  Gregory  the 
Great.  Born  of  an  ancient  and  respected  Roman 
family,  Gregory  received  all  that  the  culture  and  edu- 
cation of  his  time  had  to  give.  At  an  early  age  he 
filled  two  important  official  positions  at  Rome  and 
Constantinople.  Early  he  was  attracted  to  the  mo- 
nastic hfe  and  from  his  wealth  founded  a  monastery  in 
Rome.  Later  he  decided,  like  many  others  of  his 
time,  to  leave  the  world  and  enter  the  monastery  he 
had  established.  Lavishing  on  the  poor  all  his  costly 
robes,  his  silk,  his  jewels  and  his  furniture,  he  became 
a  monk.  It  was  as  abbot  of  a  monastery  that  he  saw 
the  beautiful  Saxon  youths  in  the  slave  market  at 
Rome  and  thereupon  resolved  to  carry  Christianity  to 
Britain.  This  he  was  not  allowed  to  do  in  person,  for 
when  he  started,  the  Romans  called  so  loudly  for  his 
return  that  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  venture, 
but  soon  after,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  Bishopric 
of  Rome,  he  sent  Augustine  and  forty  monks,  as 
we  have  seen,  to  the  British  Isle.  Thus  began  one  of 
the  greatest  careers  in  history. 

Gregory  found  the  Roman  Church  rich  in  lands  and 
estates,  given  to  it  since  the  time  of  Constantine.  In 
Italy,  Sicily  and  Corsica,  in  Illyria,  Dalmatia,  and 
Gaul,  even  in  Africa  and  Asia  were  possessions  that 


THE    MIDDLE   AGES  63 

meant  great  revenue.  To  these  estates  Gregory  gave 
much  attention,  until  he  became  master  of  a  tre- 
mendous income.  With  this  he  made  himself  the 
fostering  father  of  all  Romans,  he  redeemed  captives, 
and  assisted  the  oppressed.  These  acts  gave  him  great 
power  and  brought  him  and  his  office  into  greater 
prominence.  Conscious  of  his  power  and  greatness, 
he  was  not  obliged  to  magnify  his  office ;  it  is  said 
he  refused  to  accept  the  title  "  The  Bishop  of  Bishops," 
a  title  frequently  given  to  bishops  of  Rome,  but  pre- 
ferred to  call  himself  "  The  Servant  of  the  Servants 
of  God." 

Personally,  Gregory  raised  an  army  and  defended 
Rome  against  the  invading  Lombards  and  concluded 
a  treaty  with  them.  By  whatever  powers  were  at  his 
command,  he  enlarged  the  respect  for  the  Roman 
Bishop,  until  it  became  a  natural  course  for  men  to 
appeal  to  Rome  for  help  and  decision  in  disputes 
among  both  bishops  and  state  officials.  He  made  him- 
self world-known  by  sending  monks  as  missionaries 
to  Gaul,  Spain,  Germany  and  England,  and  every- 
where they  carried  the  Gregorian  Liturgy,  a  service- 
book  written  in  Latin  by  Gregory,  which  is  the  stand- 
ard of  the  Roman  Church  to-day.  In  such  trouble- 
some times  as  these  days  were,  this  great  Christian 
spirit,  with  all  these  practical  methods  of  unification, 


64  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

could  but  be  hailed  with  deUght.  Backed  by  wealth 
and  personal  attractiveness,  and  Christian  deeds, 
Gregory  won  all  to  him ;  once  again  all  roads  led  to 
Rome.  We  should  remember  Gregory  as  a  bright 
light  in  a  dark  period  of  history. 

20.  Rise  of  the  Empire.  Charlemagne  (Charles 
the  Great),  768-814. 

It  seems  as  if  God  planned  that  there  should  be 
two  rulers  of  the  Middle  Ages  so  that  when  one  was 
bad  the  other  would  be  good  and  thus  Christianity  be 
preserved. 

We  have  seen  how  wealth  and  power  and  honor 
came  naturally  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  Gregory 
used  these  nobly  because  he  was  a  true  Christian 
Bishop,  but  his  successors  could  not  withstand  the 
temptation  which  their  position  presented  to  them. 
From  the  Pope  down  to  the  clergy,  worldliness  took 
possession  of  the  Church.  Finally  so  little  was  the 
Church  respected  that  Charles  Martel,  after  the  battle 
at  Poitiers,  seized  Church  property  and  rewarded  his- 
soldiers  with  archbishoprics. 

The  result  of  such  events  was  a  great  decrease  of  the 
Pope's  power  and  of  the  people's  respect  for  the  Church. 

But  as  the  power  of  the  Church  decreased,  the 
political  power  increased.  The  kingdom  founded  by 
the  Frankish  chief  Clovis  became  complete  in  Charles 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  65 

the  Great,  King  of  the  Franks  from  768  and  Emperor 
of  the  West  from  800  to  814. 

Charles  was  born  in  742.  He  received  the  educa- 
tion natural  for  the  son  of  a  great  chieftain,  gaining 
much  instruction  in  the  methods  of  warfare  and  the 
chase,  and  little  in  books.  It  is  said  that  not  until 
late  in  life  did  he  know  how  to  write.  At  twenty-six 
years  of  age  he  became  king  of  the  Franks.  His  love 
of  warfare  caused  him  to  begin  immediately  a  course 
of  conquest.  With  all  the  rough  ways  of  his  German 
ancestors,  he  had  tremendous  vigor ;  he  was  in  action, 
wise,  inspiring  and  tactful.  In  a  few  years  he  had 
made  fifty-three  expeditions,  and  brought  the  whole 
of  Central  Europe  under  his  power.  What  Gregory 
had  done  by  kindness  and  wisdom  Charles  did  by 
force  of  arms.  When  the  union  that  centred  around 
Gregory  was  almost  lost,  another  union  of  people  was 
brought  about  by  Charles. 

In  Rome  in  the  great  Church  of  St.  Peter's  on 
Christmas  day  800,  Leo  III,  the  Bishop  of  Rome^ 
placed  a  golden  crown  on  Charles's  head  and  the  peo- 
ple saluted  him  as  Roman  Emperor.  This  made  the 
German  people  very  happy,  for  what  they  had  desired, 
now  seemed  attained.  They  had  conquered  and  re- 
built the  empire  they  respected,  and  made  one  of 
their  own  number  Emperor. 


66  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

And  where  was  the  value  of  all  this  to  Christianity  ? 
In  this :  that  Charles's  reign  was  not  only  glorious  but 
in  the  main,  righteous.  He  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
educational  movements  of  the  Middle  Ages.  In  his 
own  palace  at  Achen  ( Aix)  he  collected  scholars  from  all 
parts  of  the  world.  He  founded  schools  not  only  in  his 
palace,  but  for  the  children  of  his  servants  and  officers. 

He  became  Pope  as  well  as  Emperor.  He  looked 
upon  the  Bishop  of  Rome  as  the  first  bishop,  a  kind 
of  president  bishop,  but  he  never  allowed  his  claims  as 
superior  Pope.  His  policy  was  to  reform  the  Church 
and  to  unify  it  around  Rome  as  its  natural  centre,  yet 
all  the  time  keeping  it  and  the  Pope  subject  to  himself. 
He  claimed  the  right  to  administer  all  the  Church  prop- 
erty as  belonging  to  the  state.  He  exhorted  the  Pope 
and  the  clergy  to  lead  good  and  honorable  lives.  He 
improved  the  life  of  the  monasteries  by  compelling 
stricter  discipline.  He  insisted  that  the  clergy  preach 
more  sermons,  not  in  the  Latin  language,  but  in  the 
language  of  the  people,  and  under  penalty  of  whip- 
ping, compelled  the  laity  to  know  the  Lord's  Prayer 
and  the  Creed.  He  enacted  a  law  against  labor  on 
Sundays,  and  in  his  reign,  time  was  reckoned  from  the 
Christian  era,  each  year  opening  at  Christmas.  January 
first  did  not  begin  the  year  until  the  sixteenth  century. 

Much  of  Charles's  power  was  due  to  his  personality. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  6/ 

He  was  seven  feet  in  height,  and  of  noble  presence. 
His  eyes  were  large  and  animated,  and  his  voice  clear, 
but  not  3S  strong  as  his  frame  would  have  led  one  to 
expect.  His  bearing  was  manly  and  dignified.  He 
was  exceedingly  fond  of  riding,  hunting,  and  of 
swimming.  Einhard,  his  friend  and  biographer,  says 
of  him,  "  In  all  his  undertakings  and  enterprises,  there 
was  nothing  he  shrank  from  because  of  the  toil,  and 
nothing  that  he  feared  because  of  the  danger."  He 
died,  at  the  age  of  seventy,  on  January  28,  814.  He 
had  built  at  Aix  la  Chapelle  a  stately  church,  the 
columns  and  marbles  of  which  were  brought  from 
Ravenna  and  Rome.  Beneath  its  floor,  under  the 
dome,  was  his  tomb.  There  he  was  placed  in  a  sitting 
posture,  in  his  royal  robes,  with  the  crown  on  his 
head,  and  his  horn,  sword,  and  book  of  the  Gospels  on 
his  knee.  In  this  posture  his  majestic  figure  was 
found  when  his  tomb  was  opened  by  Otto  III,  near 
the  end  of  the  tenth  century.  The  marble  chair  in 
which  the  dead  monarch  sat  is  still  in  the  cathedral  at 
Aix :  the  other  relics  are  at  Vienna.  The  splendor 
of  Charlemagne's  reign  made  it  a  favorite  theme  of 
romance  among  the  poets  of  Italy,  and  a  mass  of 
poetic  legends  gathered  about  it. 

21.  Development  of  Monasticism. 

Before  we  can  understand  the  next  great  character 


68  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

of  the  Middle  Ages  we  must  turn  aside  and  look  at  the 
great  organization  in  which  Christianity  was  preserved 
and  promoted  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  passion  for  learning  which  was  started  and 
promoted  by  Charlemagne,  became  the  special  func- 
tion of  the  monasteries.  Literature,  art,  science,  music 
and  even  politics  were  the  interests  of  these  monkish 
professors.  To  become  an  artist  or  a  professional  man, 
one  was  obliged  to  enter  the  monastery.  Outside 
of  the  authority  of  the  Pope,  and  in  many  cases  with- 
out exciting  the  interest  of  the  Emperor,  these  mon- 
asteries were  filled  not  with  clergymen,  but  with  men 
who  sought  in  a  free  and  independent  way  the  fulfil- 
ment of  their  ambitions.  Far  different  were  the 
lives  of  these  monks  from  the  lives  of  the  early 
hermits  and  ascetics.  No  fastings,  vigils,  long  prayers 
and  self-tortures  were  the  customs. 

Gradually  the  seclusion  of  the  cloister  disappeared, 
and  the  halls  of  the  monasteries  became  places  of 
luxury,  idleness  and  sin.  This  had  disastrous  effects 
on  the  life  of  the  time.  All  around  were  princes  and 
people  who  feared  nothing,  not  even  God.  The  Pope 
had  little  or  no  power.  There  was  a  freedom  in  the 
religious  life,  with  little  respect  for  moral  law  and 
hardly  any  conviction  of  sin.  They  attended  the 
church    where    each    Sunday  the    Holy    Communion 


THE    MIDDLE   AGES  69 

Service  (then  called  the  Mass)  was  read  in  Latin, 
After  the  reign  of  Charles  there  was  little  preaching 
except  on  great  occasions  like  Saint's  Days  or  the  con- 
secration of  a  church.  About  1038,  Bishop  of  Gode- 
hard  became  famous,  because,  when  he  heard  of  people 
coming  together  for  some  great  occasion,  he  would 
hasten  thither  and  there  preach  the  love  of  God,  and 
one's  neighbor,  Christian  faith  and  conduct,  the  con- 
fession of  sins  and  the  care  for  souls.  So  rare  was 
this  that  note  is  made  of  it. 

Such  a  loose  religious  life  could  not  continue.  The 
spirit  of  the  world  might  hold  some  monks  but  it 
could  not  hold  all.  Again  and  again  in  this  history 
we  have  seen  the  worldly  spirit  conquering,  only  to  be 
driven  back  when  it  had  accomplished  what  God  in- 
tended. So  now,  having  advanced  learning,  culture 
and  art  and  having  failed  to  keep  also  true  Christianity, 
the  time  came  when  worldly  monasticism  should  be 
cast  forth  and  trodden  under  the  foot  of  men. 

There  were  some  monasteries  that  desired  to  keep 
the  secluded  and  holy  life.  The  principal  one  among 
these  was  the  monastery  of  Cluny  in  Burgundy.  This 
monastery  was  different  from  others  in  that  it  was  not 
independent.  It  was  under  the  direction  of  the  Pope. 
Here  three  severe  vows  were  required  and  enforced ; 
(i)  chastity,  including  abstinence  from  marriage;  (2) 


70  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

poverty,  the  giving  up  of  all  personal  property,  and 
(3)  obedience  to  superiors.  We  must  remember  this 
last  one,  for  it  made  all  monks  of  this  order  obedient 
to  the  Pope.  These  monks  sought  to  check  every 
earthly  thought.  They  had  long  periods  of  silence  in 
which  they  gained  mastery  over  self,  and  promoted 
the  inner  and  spiritual  life.  These  were  the  monks 
who  won  the  people  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Their 
haggard  faces,  glowing  eyes,  mortified  bodies  and 
rough  garments  became,  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  the 
ideal  of  a  true  Christian.  The  coarse  peasant  felt  that 
here  were  men  sincerely  trying  to  live  the  life  of  the 
Cross,  here  were  Christians  who  overcame  the  world. 

Cluny  became  the  centre  of  a  powerful  and  enthusi- 
astic movement.  Monasteries  far  and  wide  united 
with  Cluny  as  the  mother  cloister.  All  came  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  Abbot  at  Cluny,  and 
through  him,  under  the  Pope.  The  cloister  began  to 
rule  the  West.  Papacy  and  empire  came  under  its 
dominion  because  it  was  the  one  vital  institution  which 
had  the  power  to  rule. 

22.  Papacy  in  Full  Power.  Gregory  Hildebrand 
(Pope  1073-1085). 

If  Charles  the  Great  controlled  the  Papacy  as  well 
as  the  empire  and  made  himself  Pope  as  well  as  Em- 
peror, the  time  had  now  come  when  the  Pope  would 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  /I 

be  Emperor  as  well  as  Pope.  The  way  that  led  to  the 
papal  supremacy  was  prepared  in  the  monastery  of 
Cluny  and  was  achieved  by  Gregory  Hildebrand, 
Pope  from  107  3- 1085.  Hildebrand  was  born  in  Tus- 
cany of  a  poor  but  respectable  family.  From  his  early 
boyhood  he  was  prepared  for  the  monastic  Hfe  and  as 
a  young  man  entered  the  Monastery  of  Cluny.  He 
came  at  a  moment  when  this  great  monastic  move- 
ment had  arrived  at  a  wonderful  point  in  its  career. 
No  longer  did  these  monks  seek  to  subdue  the  world, 
they  sought  also  supremacy  over  the  world.  In  obe- 
dience to  the  Pope  they  looked  upon  the  Church  as 
the  possessor  of  the  world,  God  had  endowed  her  with 
it,  and  it  was  her  privilege  to  give  to  the  state  such 
temporal  power  as  was  wise  in  her  sight,  reserving  at 
all  times  the  right  of  criticism  and  dictation.  The 
unseen  should  control  the  seen,  the  infinite  control  the 
finite.  Of  this  movement  Gregory  soon  became  the 
leader.  He  was  called  first  to  become  chaplain  to  the 
Pope,  then  cardinal-subdeacon,  archdeacon,  chancellor. 
Thus  for  years  before  his  elevation  to  the  Papacy,  dur- 
ing the  pontificate  of  five  popes,  Gregory  in  reality 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  temporal  affairs  of  the 
Papacy. 

As  soon  as  he  was  seated  in  the  papal  chair  he  be- 
ga.n  to    develop   a  spiritual    monarchy.     He   argued 


72  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

that  Christ  was  King  of  Christendom,  and  the  Pope 
is  Christ's  representative  on  earth,  therefore  it  was  his 
right  and  duty  to  watch  over  the  conduct  of  the  kings, 
to  correct  their  morals  and  to  depose  them  if  their 
government  was  unrighteous.  These  monstrous 
claims  were  made  possible  by  the  condition  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  world.  Men  were  very  unhappy 
under  the  oppression  of  bad  kings  and  princes,  who 
ruled  them  for  their  own  gain.  They  on  the  other 
hand,  loved  the  monks  of  Cluny,  and  they  looked 
upon  the  assertions  of  the  Pope-monk  with  great 
favor.  They  hailed  him  as  a  deliverer  sent  from 
heaven  who  would  purify  the  Church  and  control 
wicked  princes. 

Thus  when  the  subjects  of  Henry  IV,  King  of 
Germany  complained  of  his  conduct  and  tyranny,  the 
Pope  summoned  him  to  Rome  to  answer  the  charges. 
This  greatly  enraged  the  king  who  called  a  council  and, 
as  the  emperor  of  old  had  done,  deposed  the  Pope. 
Gregory  replied  by  excommunicating  the  king.  This 
meant  that  the  Pope  commanded  Christians  to  refuse 
to  associate  with  him  ;  priests  could  not  give  him  the 
sacrament,  and  if  he  died  he  would  not  be  buried  with 
a  religious  service.  These  things  were  considered 
very  important  in  those  days,  and  the  Pope  had 
obtained   so   much    power  that  an  excommunication 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  73 

easily  frightened  people  into  submission.  Not  so  with 
Henry.  He  endeavored  to  overcome  the  Pope.  To 
his  surprise  he  found  people  drawing  away  from  him, 
his  nobles  and  soldiers  refused  to  remain  with 
him  unless  he  obeyed  Gregory.  Nearly  a  year 
passed  before  Henry  was  convinced  that  the  Pope  had 
more  power  than  himself,  and  he  must  obey  the  Pope 
and  go  to  him. 

The  two  men  met  in  the  winter  at  the  castle  of 
Canossa.  There  in  the  court-yard,  barefooted  and  in 
coarse  garments,  Gregory  saw  Henry  stand  for  three 
days,  before  he  would  admit  him.  Then  having 
shown  him  his  authority,  he  released  him  from  the 
excommunication.  It  must  have  been  a  strange  sight. 
Henry  was  a  tall,  strong  man,  while  Gregory  was  small, 
greatly  emaciated  by  fastings  and  vigils.  Truly  the 
Church  had  at  last  conquered.  Her  chief  officer  was 
king  as  well  as  pope. 

While  such  arrogance  cannot  be  commended  in  one 
who  claims  to  be  the  representative  of  Christ,  still  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  state  was  weak  and  dis- 
organized, while  the  Church  was  strong  and  united, 
therefore  it  was  natural  that  the  Church  centre  should 
be  in  control  and  should  use,  in  the  consciousness  of 
its  power,  methods  that  were  more  temporal  than 
spiritual. 


74  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

Such  arrogance  as  was  assumed  by  Gregory  always 
meets  its  downfall.  In  1085  Gregory  had  lost  much 
of  his  power,  for  the  people  found  him  a  cold, 
hard  ruler  and  gladly  returned  to  their  princes  ;  pursued 
by  the  same  Henry  he  died  practically  a  prisoner  in 
Salerno  on  May  25. 

23.  Events  During  Papal  Supremacy. 

( I )  The  Crusades.  —The  result  of  the  increased  power 
of  the  Pope  was  that  a  mighty  religious  wave  swept  over 
the  people.  Everywhere  people  were  asking,  "  What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  One  of  the  favorite  answers 
was,  "  Make  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  and  kneel  at 
the  Holy  Sepulchre." 

The  Holy  Land  was  in  the  hands  of  Arabs  and 
Turks  who  did  not  believe  in  Christ.  These,  as  the 
number  of  pilgrims  increased,  began  to  be  hostile  to 
the  Christians,  not  only  laughing  at  them  for  wor- 
shiping a  God  who  was  crucified,  but  also  beating 
and  robbing  them.  As  the  pilgrims  returned  they  told 
stories  of  their  bad  treatment.  These  stories  aroused 
the  Church  and  wars  were  undertaken  to  redeem  the 
land  where  Jesus  had  lived,  from  the  hands  of  infidels. 
In  the  great  movement  of  the  crusades  we  see  the 
Pope  as  a  great  military  sovereign. 

The  movement  began  at  the  Council  of  Claremont, 
held    in    1095.     Before   this    council  was  held.  Pope 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  75 

Urban  had  commissioned  Peter  the  Hermit  to  stir  up 
the  people  to  dehver  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  All  over 
the  country  he  went  with  an  emaciated  countenance 
and  flashing  eye,  his  head  bare,  his  feet  naked,  and 
wearing  a  coarse  garment  bound  with  a  girdle  of  cord, 
telling  his  burning  tale  of  the  inflictions  endured  by 
the  pilgrims.  At  the  council.  Urban  himself  addressed 
the  assembly  eloquently  and  with  great  passion.  He 
called  upon  every  one  to  deny  himself  and  take  up  the 
cross.  He  told  them  that  all  their  sins  would  be  for- 
given and  salvation  theirs,  if  only  they  would  free  the 
Holy  Land  from  the  hands  of  infidels.  Thousands 
knelt  and  had  the  red  silk  cross  fastened  on  their 
shoulders,  signifying  that  they  took  up  arms  for  the 
Cross  of  Christ.  They  were  called  crusaders  from  an 
old  French  word  derived  from  croix,  a  cross. 

There  were  seven  crusades  lasting  from  1096  to 
1300.  During  this  time  Jerusalem  was  taken  in  1098 
and  held  until  11 87.  In  1229  it  was  secured  again 
and  finally  lost  in  1244.  In  1291  the  Christians  evac- 
uated Acre,  their  last  possession  in  the  Holy  Land. 

One  of  the  foremost  leaders  in  the  first  Crusade  was 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon.  He  pawned  his  estate  to  the 
Church  for  money  to  raise  an  army  to  go  to  Jerusalem 
in  fulfilment  of  a  vow.  His  army  was  eighty  thousand 
foot  and  ten  thousand  cavalry.  After  capturing  Antioch, 


76  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

and  routing  a  vast  Saracen  host,  the  crusaders  arrived 
at  Jerusalem,  where  Godfrey  on  a  Friday,  July  15,  1099, 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  stood  on  the  wall  of 
the  Holy  City.  He  tarnished  his  glory  by  ordering  a 
sacrifice  of  the  infidels,  seventy  thousand  Moslems, 
and  burning  harmless  Jews  in  their  synagogues. 
After  this  massacre,  the  army  walked  to  Mt.  Calvary, 
bareheaded  and  barefooted  amidst  the  loud  anthems 
of  the  clergy  ;  they  kissed  the  stone  which  had  covered 
the  Saviour  of  the  world  and  wept.  A  Christian  king- 
dom was  then  founded  of  which  Godfrey  was  unani- 
mously elected  king,  but  he  refused  to  wear  a  crown  of 
gold,  where  his  Master  had  worn  a  crown  of  thorns, 
and  took  the  title  of  Defender  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
During  the  single  year  of  his  rule,  he  repelled  the 
Saracens  with  great  courage  and  skill. 

He  died  in  iioo  and  was  buried  in  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  He  was  mourned  by  Mohammedans  and 
Christians.  His  life  was  one  of  purity,  wisdom  and 
piety. 

The  results  of  the  Crusades  were  many.  Men 
traveled  and  all  minds  broadened.  The  eastern 
civilization  which  was  more  refined,  was  brought  back 
to  the  west,  and  commerce  was  established,  bringing 
from  the  east  materials  and  enriching  the  west  with 
eastern  customs. 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES  77 

(2)  TJie  Inquisition. — This  word  stands  for  some 
very  dark  deeds  done  by  the  Roman  Church  during 
the  supremacy  of  the  Papacy.  We  see  now  the 
wicked  use  of  the  papal  power. 

When  the  Pope  was  supreme  not  every  one  was 
convinced  that  he  was  the  representative  of  Christ. 
Never  in  all  history  has  there  been  a  moment  when 
all  men  saw  in  the  Papacy  the  ideal  of  Christian 
living.  When  the  papal  power  began  to  shape  its 
course  there  were  men  who  saw  whither  it  was  tend- 
ing and  who  rebelled  against  it.  All  through  the 
days  of  Hildebrand  there  were  many  spirits  faithful 
to  Christ  who  longed  for  freedom  from  a  Pope,  in 
order  that  they  might  worship  and  live  as  they  de- 
sired. But  they  were  a  minority,  unable  to  assert 
themselves,  and  because  of  their  minority  attracted 
little  attention.  They  were  termed  "  heretics,"  which 
meant  that  they  refused  to  accept  the  beliefs  of  the 
Roman  Church,  and  therefore  were  condemned  by  the 
Church  as  in  error. 

As  the  Crusades  progressed,  not  only  did  the 
Crusaders  go  to  the  Holy  Land,  but  also  against  the 
section  of  the  country  where  these  so  called  heretics 
lived.  The  one  we  will  notice  especially  is  the 
crusade  against  the  Albigenses.  They  lived  in  the 
southern  part  of  France,  grouped  around  their  central 


y8  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

town  called  Albi.  Here  they  grew  very  strong,  guided 
by  the  nobles  of  the  section.  They  drove  out  the 
Roman  priests,  and  made  over  the  Churches,  They 
established  schools  and  charitable  institutions,  elected 
their  own  priests  and  bishop.  Not  only  did  they  re- 
sist the  Church  of  Rome,  but  they  called  it  the 
"  Church  of  the  Antichrist,"  "  the  synagogue  of 
Satan."  This  was  more  than  the  mighty  Pope  at 
Rome  could  stand.  Was  he  not  ruler  of  the  whole 
world  ?  "  Would  he  send  a  crusade  against  the 
infidels  and  leave  these  heretics  unmolested  ?  No, 
for  Christ,  he  would  exterminate  the  heretic  dogs." 

A  crusade  was  proclaimed  against  the  Albigenses. 
A  large  army  marched  to  the  South  of  France.  See 
how  the  crusade  was  carried  on.  Beziers  was  the  first 
town  attacked.  The  Albigenses  were  repulsed,  and  as 
they  retreated  the  crusaders  pressed  after  them  within 
the  walls  of  the  town.  A  general  massacre  ensued, 
the  poor  people  being  killed,  burned  or  sold  as  slaves 
to  the  Mohammedans.  One  of  the  orders  given  by  a 
crusader,  Arnold,  Abbot  of  a  monastery  was  "  Kill 
them  all;  the  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  His." 
How  strange  were  the  thoughts  of  men,  that  they 
could  believe  that  such  acts  were  acceptable  to  Christ. 
Nor  was  this  the  worst.  Not  only  would  the  Pope 
force  himself  upon  these  people,  but  individually  they 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  79 

were  inquired  for  and  unless  they  confessed  allegiance 
they  were  tortured.  Others  were  tortured  until  they 
revealed  the  hiding-places  of  their  friends.  To  con- 
fess allegiance  to  the  Pope  meant  being  sent  to  a 
monastery,  to  refuse  meant  being  burned  at  the 
stake. 

We  cannot  realize  the  terror  of  these  days.  To 
possess  a  copy  of  the  Old  or  New  Testament  was  a 
crime.  So  supreme  had  the  Pope  become,  that  no  one 
could  think  a  thought  or  do  an  act  without  it  was  in 
accordance   with   the   rules   of   the    Roman    Church. 

(3)  St.  Francis  of  Assist  [1182-1226)  and  the 
Mendicant  Orders. — Amid  all  the  religious  en- 
thusiasm created  by  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope 
it  would  be  strange  if  there  were  not  many 
noble  Christian  men  who  stood  forth  from  those 
days  of  horror  and  war,  and  enriched  the  world 
by  gentle,  pure  and  loving  lives.  Such  was  the 
life  of  Giovanni  Bernardone,  called  by  his  father 
Francesco  and  known  to  the  world  as  St.  Francis, 
Born  in  the  family  of  a  rich  clothing  merchant  in  the 
town  of  Assisi,  between  the  Adriatic  Sea  and  the 
Apennine  Mountains,  here  he  dwelt  during  boyhood, 
in  love  with  the  beautiful  mountains,  the  clear  and 
abundant  streams,  the  fresh  air  and  delightful  atmos- 
phere about  him.     Filled  with  the  prevailing  spirit  of 


80  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

chivalry  he  fought  for  his  native  town,  was  taken 
captive  and  spent  one  year  in  prison.  With  his  re- 
lease came  sickness,  and  deeper  thoughts  on  the  value 
of  life.  A  deep  religious  ambition  awoke.  He  de- 
sired to  sell  all  and  give  to  the  poor. 

Such  ideas  were  strongly  opposed  by  the  father,  a 
cool  headed  business  man.  One  day  the  two  met  be- 
fore the  Bishop  of  Assisi,  Francis  put  aside  the  cloth- 
ing his  father  had  given  him  and  laying  them  at  his 
father's  feet,  took  refuge  behind  the  folds  of  the 
Bishop's  robe.  He  had  made  his  decision  in  favor  of 
the  Church.  He  was  determined  to  take  nothing  with 
him,  he  had  determined  to  deny  himself  and  take  up 
the  cross.  Truly  the  spirit  of  this  humble  young  man 
was  the  spirit  of  Christ.  It  was  love  that  filled  his 
soul ;  pure  love  of  God  and  of  man.  His  love  did  not 
call  him  to  preach,  or  write  or  join  the  great  Pope  who 
claimed  to  be  the  representative  of  Christ,  it  called 
him  to  do  what  Christ  did ;  to  go  among  the  poor,  to 
help  them  by  living  with  them  and  loving  them.  As 
Jesus  had  "  nowhere  to  lay  his  head "  so  Francis 
wandered  about  with  no  regular  shelter  ;  joining  him- 
self to  beggars,  and  caring  tenderly  for  the  outcasts  of 
society  —  the  lepers.  A  Httle  church  outside  of 
Assisi  was  the  centre  of  his  religious  life.  Here  he 
returned  again  and  again,  here  he  gathered  around 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  8l 

him  men  and  women  who  thought  as  he  did  and  who 
desired  to  Hve  with  him.  Soon  a  rude  monastery  of 
cells  (which  can  be  seen  to-day)  was  estabhshed  on  the 
hillside  above  Assisi,  and  here  the  few  faithful  dwelt 
in  a  Hfe  of  prayer  and  humility.  As  Christ  sent  out 
His  followers,  so  Francis  sent  out  his ;  two  by  two  to 
preach  and  help  the  sick  and  the  poor.  He  said  to 
them :  "  Go,  announcing  peace  to  men,  preaching 
penitence  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Be  patient  in 
tribulations,  watchful  in.  prayers,  in  labors  vigorous, 
in  addressing  others,  modest  and  humble,  in  manner 
and  character  grave,  in  receiving  benefits,  grateful." 

From  this  humble  beginning  came  the  Franciscan 
Order  which  had  power  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
Middle  Ages  and  which  to-day  numbers  one  hundred 
thousand  monks.  From  the  beginning,  Francis  sought 
to  raise  the  laity.  He  created  what  was  called  the 
Third  Order  for  men  and  women  who  wished  to  marry 
and  continue  their  work  in  the  world  and  yet  live  a 
holy  life. 

St.  Francis  rebelled  all  his  life  against  Papal  favors, 
he  urged  his  followers  not  to  trouble  themselves  about 
the  Papacy.  But  this  was  quite  impossible.  Such  a 
work  as  St.  Francis's  must  be  recognized  and  was  com- 
mended by  the  Pope.  St.  Francis,  early  worn  out  by 
fasting  and  overwork,  died  in  1226,  stretched  on  the 


82  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

floor  of  his  beloved  Church  near  Assisi.  After  his 
death  his  order  grew,  accepted  property  and  departed 
widely  from  Francis's  original  purpose. 

T/ie  Mendicants. 

To  the  followers  of  St.  Francis  was  given  the  name 
of  "  Mendicants,"  (poor  men).  Another  man  by  the 
name  of  Dominic  organized  a  similar  order,  more 
closely  connected  with  the  Pope.  Thus  over  the 
world  streamed  these  Mendicant  monks  preaching  in 
the  language  of  the  people,  becoming  their  pastors 
and  confessors.  There  were  no  newspapers  in  those 
days,  and  these  monks,  by  travel,  by  touching  every 
interest,  political  and  educational  as  well  as  spiritual, 
became  of  great  value  to  the  people.  Can  you  not 
imagine  the  power  of  the  Papacy  ?  The  preaching  of 
these  monks  was  the  only  force  to  mold  public  opin- 
ion, and  all  of  these  monks  in  life  and  thought  were 
under  the  control  of  the  Pope. 

But  a  more  wonderful  change  was  taking  place 
through  the  preaching  of  the  mendicants.  While  the 
Pope  was  gaining  power  by  the  monk's  preaching,  un- 
consciously the  middle  classes  were  being  educated, 
and  education  meant  the  weapon  by  which  the  Papal 
supremacy  would  finally  be  overthrown. 

Up  to  this  time  history  has  dealt  with  Princes,  nobles 
and  especially  clergy.     Now  by  the  preaching  of  the 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  83 

monks,  the  middle  class  was  introduced  into  history. 
In  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  came  a  won- 
derful revival  of  learning.  The  Universities  of  Paris, 
Oxford,  and  Bologna  came  into  existence.  At  Paris 
in  1200  there  were  fifteen  thousand  pupils.  Here  the 
old  Greek  philosophies  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  were 
read.  A  vision  of  a  new  life  was  opened  to  men. 
Never  before  did  they  realize  so  completely  their 
bondage  to  the  authority  of  one  man, — tJie  Pope. 
They  discovered  within  themselves,  reason  and  power 
of  thought,  and  as  soon  as  they  turned  the  light  of 
that  wonderful  power  which  God  has  planted  in  man, 
upon  all  the  institutions  of  the  time,  the  Papacy,  the 
monastery,  the  mendicants,  they  saw  how  these  in- 
stead of  making  noble  men  and  women  who  loved 
God,  and  led  self-respecting  lives,  made  men  and 
women  afraid  of  God  and  lead  cowardly  and  base  lives. 
The  time  had  come  when  the  Papacy  must  fall. 

24.  Abuse  of  the  Papal  Power. 

The  higher  one  ascends  in  the  life  of  the  world,  the 
greater  becomes  the  responsibilities.  If  the  Popes  at 
this  time  had  realized  their  great  power  and  took  it  as 
a  great  responsibility,  and  tried  to  guide  the  people  in 
their  ambition  to  receive  an  education  and  advance 
with  the  advancing  world,  they  would  have  exercised 
their  power  and  enriched  life. 


84  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

Instead  they  abused  their  power.  They  claimed 
more  and  more  the  control  of  lands  and  houses,  and 
sought  more  and  more  to  enrich  themselves.  In 
England,  Germany  and  France,  the  Papacy  claimed 
the  ownership  of  all  the  land,  and  gave  the  use  of  this 
land  to  men  whom  it  wished  to  reward,  or  whose 
services  it  wished  to  command.  If  any  one  died  while 
visiting  the  Pope  at  Rome  either  on  business  or 
pleasure,  the  Pope  took  all  the  property  and  gave  it 
to  whomsoever  he  willed,  and  as  the  Pope  controlled 
the  armies,  if  any  one  objected  to  his  orders,  these  were 
enforced  by  arms. 

You  remember  that  the  mendicants  were  under  the 
Pope.  This  gave  them  a  right  to  go  to  any  parish, 
preach  and  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  priest,  and 
the  priest  or  bishop  of  the  parish  could  not  prevent. 
This  power  was  used  badly  for  these  mendicants  de- 
manded fees,  thus  the  people's  money  was  taken  from 
them  and  sent  to  Rome  making  their  own  Church 
very  poor  and  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  rich. 

So  anxious  did  the  Papacy  become  for  money  that 
it  used  to  sell  bishoprics  and  spiritual  offices  to  the 
highest  bidders,  and  those  who  bought  would  extort 
money  from  the  tenants  of  the  land  that  went  with 
the  office. 

The  climax  came  in   1302  when  Philip  of  France 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  85 

and  Edward  of  England  refused  to  allow  to  the  Pope 
power  to  give  or  sell  offices  in  their  domains.  Pope 
Boniface  VIII  boldly  declared  against  these  kings, 
claiming  that  he  had  absolute  right  and  could  even 
create  and  depose  kings.  These  were  the  two  kings 
who  represented  the  advancing  nations  of  this  time. 
Under  the  influence  of  education  they  were  realizing 
that  the  state  and  the  Church  should  not  be  subject  to 
the  Pope.  The  people  of  these  nations  were  shocked 
by  the  pretensions  to  power  made  by  the  Pope,  and 
were  prepared  to  aid  their  sovereigns  in  resisting  any 
claims  that  were  made  by  the  Papacy  in  their  country. 

Just  as  Pope  Boniface  was  preparing  to  issue  a  bull 
against  Philip  awarding  France  to  Albert  I  of  Germany, 
the  French  Chancellor  surprised  the  Pope  and 
took  him  prisoner.  Although  he  was  set  free  in  a  few 
days,  the  shock  was  so  great  that  he  died  of  a  burning 
fever.  Philip  immediately  took  control  of  the  Papacy. 
He  gained  the  election  of  a  Frenchman  for  Pope,  com- 
pelled him  to  move  his  residence  from  Rome  to  Avig- 
non in  France,  where  the  Papacy  was  under  the 
watchful  eye  and  direction  of  the  King. 

The  Papacy  never  recovered  from  this  direct  blow. 
It  was  no  use  for  it  to  claim  power  over  the  men  of 
the  world,  when  everybody  knew  that  it  was  the 
vassal    and   tool    of  the  French   King.     There  soon 


86  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

arose  a  party  who  elected  a  Pope  to  live  at  Rome. 
Then  Christendom  was  divided  into  two  hostile  camps. 
The  Papacy  was  at  war  with  itself,  each  Pope  fighting 
the  other.  This  period  is  known  in  history  as  the 
Great  Schism. 

Soon  a  third  party  arose  who  called  a  council  to 
heal  the  schism.  Here  a  third  Pope  was  elected. 
Thus  in  the  course  of  thirty  years  the  institution  which 
once  had  commanded  the  respect  and  allegiance  of 
all,  became  the  jest  of  Christendom. 

While  all  this  had  been  taking  place  with  the 
Papacy,  the  common  people  and  the  state  had  gathered 
strength,  one  through  the  preaching  of  the  Mendicant 
Friars,  and  the  other  through  the  teachings  in  the 
universities,  these  forces  now  came  forward  and  became 
the  rulers  of  the  world. 

25.  Reforming  Forces. 

Changes  took  place  rapidly  now.  The  world,  as  it 
were,  awoke.  Every  one  longed  for  the  new  life  which 
seemed  possible  in  religion  and  politics.  The  three 
headed  schism  was  healed  in  this  way  :  The  Council 
of  Constance  was  called  in  14 14.  Representatives 
from  all  of  Western  Christendom  assembled.  The 
Emperor  himself  took  part.  This  showed  the  desire  of 
all  for  reform.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  as- 
sembly   declared :    that    supreme    authority    in    the 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  8/ 

Church  belonged  not  to  a  Pope  but  to  a  general  coun- 
cil— the  assembly  of  the  representatives  of  the  Church 
was  above  the  Pope.  The  three  Popes  were  then 
compelled  to  resign,  and  a  new  Pope  elected  and  the 
schism  actually  healed.  This  was  all  that  was  ac- 
complished. No  sooner  did  the  Papacy  become 
united  again,  than  it  seized  the  reins  and  tried  to 
assert  its  old  supremacy.  But  this  was  not  possible, 
for  already  there  had  arisen  men  who  were  to  prepare 
the  way  for  Martin  Luther  and  the  final  overthrow  of 
the  power  of  the  Papacy. 

(i)  John  Wiclif[ij2^-ij84). — The  beginning  of  the 
movement  of  reform  is  best  seen  in  England  and  in  the 
person  of  John  Wiclif.  This  is  a  name  we  should  re- 
member, and  a  life  we  should  know.  This  man  boldly 
asserted  three  things:  (l)  The  evils  of  the  papacy. 
(2)  The  independence  of  England.  (3)  The  rights  of 
common  people. 

Born  of  an  old  Anglo-Saxon  family  in  Yorkshire, 
he  was  educated  in  Oxford  where  he  early  distin- 
guished himself.  In  1360  he  became  warden  of  Can- 
terbury Hall.  Later,  expelled  from  his  position 
because  he  refused  privileges  to  the  monks,  he  left 
Oxford  and  plunged  into  the  politics  of  the  day.  The 
great  question  then  debated  was,  whether  or  not  Eng- 
land  should  continue  paying  an  annual  tax  to  the 


88  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

Pope.  This  had  been  done  for  one  hundred  years, 
since  the  days  of  King  John  who  had  submitted  to 
the  Pope's  dictation.  Edward  III  refused  to  pay  the 
tax,  and  Wiclif  supported  him  in  the  refusal.  ParUa- 
ment  voted  that  the  king  had  no  right  to  send  money 
to  Rome  without  the  consent  of  the  nobles,  and 
further  if  the  Pope  proceeded  to  measures  of  force, 
Parliament  would  support  the  king.  Wiclif  was  now 
appointed  on  a  commission  sent  from  England  to  treat 
with  the  Pope's  ambassadors.  He  stayed  about  two 
years  and  came  back  so  disgusted  with  papal  life,  as 
he  had  seen  it,  that  he  not  only  resisted  papal  claims, 
but  denounced  the  Roman  Pope  as  an  adversary  of 
Christ.  Against  the  practices  of  the  Roman  Church, 
Wiclif  turned  the  lull  vigor  of  his  mind  and  voice. 
By  sermons  from  his  Church  at  Lutterworth  and  by 
theses,  he  exposed  the  degradation  of  the  Papacy  and 
the  wide  chasm  between  it  and  Christianity.  Many 
flocked  to  hear  him,  men  associated  themselves  with 
him,  these  he  trained  and  sent  out  to  propagate  his 
teachings.  Like  the  friars,  they  went  about  with  bare 
feet,  coarse  clothing,  and  deeply  impressed  the  poor 
people. 

Such  action  brought  upon  him  the  open  condemna- 
tion of  Rome.  Summoned  by  a  council  held  at  St. 
Paul's,  London,  Wiclif  was  tried  but  no  decision  reached. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES  89 

Wiclif  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  translation 
of  the  Bible.  Up  to  this  time  the  Bible  had  been 
written  in  Latin,  and  the  idea  had  prevailed  that  it 
would  be  showing  contempt  for  the  divine  word  to 
hand  it  about  among  the  unlearned.  Wiclif  desired 
his  poor  priests  to  instruct  from  the  Bible  and  as  they 
could  not  read  Latin,  he  translated  it  for  them  into 
English.  This  was  the  first  systematic  and  complete 
translation  of  the  Bible.  Wiclif  then  claimed  what 
was  very  new :  that  all  men  should  go  to  the  scripture 
for  their  knowledge  and  truths  of  Christianity,  instead 
of  to  the  decrees  of  any  Pope  or  even  a  council. 
Soon  after  this  Wiclif  fell  ill  and  some  friars  came  to 
his  bedside  and  exhorted  him,  as  he  hoped  for  mercy 
from  Christ,  to  unsay  the  harsh  things  he  had  put  forth 
against  them.  But  he  replied  that  he  was  not  sick 
unto  death  but  would  live  to  continue  his  crusade 
against  their  hypocrisy. 

In  1 38 1  he  was  again  summoned  by  the  Pope's 
representatives  to  appear  in  London  and  answer  for 
his  writings.  Here  he  spoke  out  boldly.  A  priest  or 
Pope,  he  said,  had  no  exclusive  authority  "  they  may 
be  legally  punished  and  accused  by  the  laity." 

Great  confusion  reigned  during  this  inquiry.  The 
people  who  loved  Wiclif  stood  by  his  side  ready  to 
support  him.     So  also  did  some  of  the  nobility.     An 


90  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

earthquake  broke  up  this  council,  and  although  the 
Pope  endeavored  to  secure  Wiclif 's  condemnation  as  a 
heretic,  he  was  unsuccessful,  Wiclif  died  in  peace  at 
Lutterworth  in  1 384.  He  was  the  morning  star  of  the 
Reformation,  for  he  voiced  the  thoughts  of  many 
Englishmen ;  "  That  the  Bishop  of  Rome  hath  no 
jurisdiction  in  the  realm  of  England." 

(2)  John  Hiiss  of  Bohemis  [ij6g-i^ij). — This  is 
the  name  of  another  man  who  prepared  the  way 
for  Luther.  At  the  University  of  Prague  lived  John 
Huss,  teacher  of  philosophy  and  preacher  of  theol- 
ogy. In  his  teachings  he  was  most  temperate  and 
instructive,  gaining  great  influence  by  his  modest 
and  meek  personality.  To  this  university  came  stu- 
dents from  Oxford  bringing  Wiclif 's  ideas.  Bohemia 
was  aroused  and  Huss  became  the  central  figure  of  the 
movement.  He  preached  and  wrote  against  the  clergy, 
their  sins  and  love  of  money.  Soon  the  Pope  placed 
Huss  under  ban ;  his  residence  was  closed  to  the  public 
by  soldiers  who  did  the  Pope's  bidding,  and  Huss  was 
given  a  certain  time  in  which  to  retract.  Huss  ap- 
pealed to  Christ  as  the  one  incorruptible  judge,  left 
Prague  and  found  a  welcome  in  the  castles  of  his 
friends.  From  these  castles  he  issued  writings  con- 
demning the  Papacy,  and  went  forth  and  preached  to 
large  crowds  in  the  open  air.     At  this  time  the  great 


THE    MIDDLE   AGES  91 

Council  of  Constance  was  in  session  (Page  86),  and 
the  Emperor  invited  Huss  to  attend  the  council  and 
vindicate  himself  and  the  honor  of  Bohemia,  and  as- 
sured him  safety  under  the  protection  of  Imperial  sol- 
diers. Huss  accepted,  but  the  Emperor  did  not  keep 
his  word.  At  Constance  Huss  was  imprisoned  in  a 
dungeon,  tried  before  the  council  and  condemned. 
He  was  then  publicly  deposed  as  a  heretic,  he  had  his 
priestly  garments  torn  from  him,  and  his  soul  given  to 
the  devil.  Like  the  martyrs  of  old  he  commended  his 
soul  to  Jesus  Christ  and  was  burned  at  the  stake. 

Not  satisfied  with  this  crime,  the  council  dug  up 
Wiclif 's  body  which  had  been  buried  thirty-one  years 
and  burned  it  with  all  his  writings.  The  ashes  were 
thrown  into  the  Avon.  We  should  remember  the 
four  lines  written  by  Wordsworth  : 

•'  Avon  to  the  Severn  runs, 
The  Severn  to  the  sea, 
And  Wiclif's  dust  shall  spread  abroad 
As  wide  as  waters  be." 

These  acts  caused  profound  agitation  in  England  and 
Bohemia,  and  a  great  reaction  against  Church  author- 
ity. Men  in  Bohemia  sent  a  vigorous  declaration  to 
the  council,  and  noblemen  formed  a  league  for  the 
protection  of  free  preaching  on  their  property,  and 
declared  in  favor  of  Huss  and  Wiclif,  and  that  they 


92  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

would  only  obey  orders  of  the  bishop  and  Pope  if 
they  were  in  accord  with  the  scripture.  So  far  did  the 
reaction  against  the  Church  go  that  in  Bohemia  there 
appeared  the  idea  of  the  early  Christian  community ; 
there  was  to  be  no  church,  with  power  and  authority, 
but  rather  a  voluntary  association  of  men  who  be- 
lieved in  the  Kingdom  of  God.  In  England  arose 
similar  movements  called,  "  Lollardism,"  "  Friends  of 
God,"  "  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life,"  all  seeking 
spiritual  living  apart  from  the  organized  Church,  All 
these  movements  were  needed,  for  all  through  this 
period  we  have  seen  men  with  their  eyes  dazzled  by 
the  brilliancy  of  Church  ritual  and  organization,  and 
their  faces  set  towards  the  riches  of  the  world  with  all 
its  pleasures  and  ambitions.  Back  of  them  was  the 
Gospel  that  giveth  the  only  true  and  lasting  life. 

The  Middle  Ages  needed  not  so  much  a  change  of 
organization,  as  a  change  in  spirit.  Pope,  bishop, 
priests,  kings,  princes,  all  needed  a  draught  from  the 
inexhaustible  well  of  the  gospel,  which  the  great 
Christian  Church  always  bears  within  her,  and  all  these 
movements  signified  the  turning  of  men  towards  the 
gospel. 


DIVISION  THREE 

THE    REFORMATION 

26.  The  New  Spirit. 

If  we  had  lived  between  1400  and  1500  we  should 
have  enjoyed  one  of  the  most  wonderful  periods  of 
history.  In  1 320,  gunpowder  had  been  discovered  to 
be  of  use  in  warfare.  Picture  if  you  can  what  the  in- 
vention of  the  cannon  and  firelock  meant.  No  longer 
was  the  man  on  the  horse,  who  was  protected  by 
heavy  steel  armor,  a  terror  to  the  man  who  had  no 
horse  and  no  armor.  The  man  with  a  lance  on  a 
horse  was  compelled  to  surrender  to  the  man  on  the 
ground  with  a  gun.  This  put  power  into  the  hands  of 
the  common  people  and  revolutionized  society. 

Of  still  greater  importance  was  the  invention  of 
printing  in  1438.  Up  to  this  time  all  books  had  been 
made  in  the  monastery.  Sometimes  monks  spent  a 
lifetime  copying  by  hand  one  book  after  another. 
This  made  libraries  expensive,  and  education  only 
within  reach  of  the  wealthy.  With  the  invention  of 
printing,  books  came  within  the  reach  of  all.     Educa- 

93 


94  THE   HISTORY   OF    CHRISTIANITY 

tion    means   power   and  in  the  end  it  gives  a  man 
greater  power  than  the  gun. 

In  1492,  Columbus,  by  the  discovery  of  America, 
proved  that  the  world  was  round  and  not  flat,  and  that 
there  were  lands  on  the  earth  containing  wealth  be- 
yond the  imagination  of  man.  This  compelled  men 
to  make  a  decided  change  in  their  ideas  of  life. 

With  the  radical  changes  in  society  created  by  the 
use  of  gunpowder,  with  the  increased  education  of 
men  by  the  invention  of  printing,  with  the  total 
change  of  looking  at  the  universe  as  brought  about  by 
Columbus  and  Copernicus,  a  new  age  came  into  being. 
Instead  of  looking  forward  to  the  life  to  come,  they 
looked  forward  to  the  improvement  of  life  here. 
Men's  minds  were  filled  with  new  ambitions,  new  path- 
ways of  Ufe  lay  before  the  young  men  ;  and  the  poor 
man,  the  common  man,  stood  upright  to  receive  what 
the  age  in  all  its  fruitfulness  had  to  give. 

With  their  attention  on  these  great  and  important 
movements  men  found  that  they  had  more  enthusiasm 
for  life,  than  when  they  thought  constantly  and  almost 
solely  on  Church  affairs :  ritual,  organization,  and 
stood  in  fear  of  the  priest  and  Pope.  Thus  a  new 
spirit  came  into  existence,  a  spirit  that  the  Papacy 
could  not  conquer. 

This  spirit  was  more  in  Germany  than  anywhere 


THE   REFORMATION  95 

else.  There  were  many  reasons  for  this.  Notice  the 
following:  (i)  There  was  more  real  piety  and  desire 
for  morality.  (2)  The  Bible  was  read  and  preached 
not  in  the  Latin  language,  but  in  the  Germanic.  (3) 
The  Pope  at  Rome  was  far  enough  away  to  make  the 
Germans  bold  in  criticising  him  and  his  methods. 

27.  Reformation  in  Germany.  Martin  Luther, 
1483-1546. 

The  spirit  within  the  hearts  of  men  at  last  came  into 
being. 

Germany  awoke  to  the  fact  that  much  of  its  money 
was  carried  to  Rome  to  support  a  profligate  Papacy. 
The  method  of  securing  the  money  was  by  the 
system  of  indulgences.  If  a  man  committed  a  sin  he 
could  buy  an  indulgence,  which  was  a  roll  of  paper 
containing  the  Pope's  pardon,  and  thereby  be  assured 
of  the  forgiveness  of  his  sin. 

In  15 16  Pope  Leo  X  needed  money  to  continue 
the  construction  of  St.  Peter's  which  stands  to-day  in 
Rome,  the  largest  cathedral  in  Christendom.  He 
therefore  issued  thousands  of  these  indulgences  and 
sent  monks  to  Germany  to  sell  them.  Among  the 
monks  was  one  Tetzel  whose  district  was  near  Wit- 
tenberg. 

As  indulgences  had  been  long  in  the  market  and 
cheaply  bought,  Tetzel  was  obliged  to  use  means  to 


96  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

increase  the  sale.  Daringly  he  piled  lie  upon  lie,  he 
set  forth  a  long  list  of  evils  his  commodity  would 
cure  ;  he  invented  evils  and  sins,  crimes  and  atrocities 
unthought  of ;  and  when  he  saw  his  audience  standing 
aghast  at  each  horrible  suggestion,  he  would  calmly 
repeat  the  burden  of  his  song  :  "  Well,  all  this  is  ex- 
piated the  moment  your  money  clinks  in  the  Pope's 
chest." 

Luther  was  then  pastor  and  preacher  at  Wittenberg. 
Born  in  the  family  of  a  miner,  he  was  one  of  the  com- 
mon people.  After  some  early  schooling  he  entered 
the  University  of  Erfurt  to  study  law.  Suddenly  he 
disappeared.  The  question :  "  How  can  I  find  a 
merciful  God,"  and  the  terrors  of  a  thunder-storm,  had 
deeply  shocked  him,  and  compelled  him  to  turn 
towards  the  monastery,  with  the  hope  that  by  becom- 
ing pious  and  sacrificing  his  life,  he  could  obtain  the 
favor  of  a  merciful  God. 

After  years  of  study  in  the  monastery,  he  went  to 
the  University  of  Wittenberg  where  he  became  a 
doctor  and  teacher,  and  in  this  position  his  attention 
was  attracted  to  the  sale  of  indulgences. 

Listen  to  Luther  : 

"  It  was  in  the  year  15 17  when  the  profligate  monk 
Tetzel,  a  worthy  servant  of  the  Pope  and  the  devil,  for 
I  am  certain  that  the  Pope  is  the  agent  of  the  devil 


THE    REFORMATION  97 

on  earth — came  among  us  selling  indulgences,  main- 
taining their  efficacy,  and  impudently  practicing  on 
the  credulity  of  the  people.  When  I  beheld  this  un- 
holy and  detestable  traffic  taking  place  in  open  day, 
and  thereby  sanctioning  the  most  villainous  crimes,  I 
could  not,  though  I  was  but  a  young  doctor  of 
divinity,  refrain  from  protesting  against  it  in  the 
strongest  manner.  I  resolved  to  oppose  the  career  of 
this  odious  monk  and  to  put  the  people  on  their  guard 
against  the  revival  of  this  infamous  imposition. 

"  I  cautioned  my  hearers  against  the  snares  which 
were  laid  for  them,  showing  them  that  this  was  a 
scheme  altogether  opposed  to  religion,  and  only  in- 
tended as  a  source  of  emolument  by  these  unprinci- 
pled men." 

Luther  wrote  to  his  bishop,  but  received  no  answer. 
Finding  all  his  remonstances  disregarded,  on  the  fes- 
tival of  All  Saint's  (November,  15 17)  he  nailed  to  the 
door  of  the  Church  ninety-five  propositions  against 
these  indulgences,  in  which  he  set  forth  their  utter  inef- 
ficiency and  worthlessness.  As  a  knight  by  casting 
down  his  glove  called  for  a  tournament,  so  these  theses 
called  for  debate  from  scholars.  The  public  mind  was 
stirred.  All  Germany  was  fired  by  Luther.  Luther 
immediately  became  "  A  stanch  antagonist  of  eccle- 
siastical abuses,  and  a  fearless  champion  of  reform." 


98  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

The  Pope  tried  to  bring  Luther  to  submission,  but 
as  one  dispute  led  to  another,  Luther's  views  of  the 
Papacy  became  clearer  and  more  decided  to  himself  as 
well  as  to  the  world.  He  disputed  the  right  of  the 
Pope  to  make  laws  and  avowed  his  sympathy  with 
Huss. 

In  1520  the  Pope  excommunicated  him,  but  he 
burned  the  bill  of  excommunication  at  the  gates  of 
the  town  in  the  presence  of  students  and  others.  Both 
parties  had  taken  the  extreme  step.     The  fight  was  on. 

Luther's  stand  served  as  a  rallying  point  for  all  men 
who  had  a  grievance  against  the  Pope  and  clergy. 
Protected  by  some  of  the  nobility  who  sympathized 
with  him,  Luther  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  large 
body  of  reformers.  Events  moved  with  great  rapidity 
and  matters  went  from  bad  to  worse  until  the  Emperor 
Charles  V  called  a  council,  the  Diet  of  Worms,  in 
hopes  to  reconcile  Luther  and  the  Pope.  In  the 
centre  of  Worms  to-day  stands  a  monument  to 
Luther,  commemorating  his  boldness  and  dependence 
on  God. 

To  this  Diet  Luther  was  carried,  assured  of  safe 
conduct  and  protection.  He  went  trusting,  but  re- 
membering Huss.  His  writings  were  laid  before  him, 
and  he  was  asked  to  refute.  He  spent  one  night  in 
thought  and  prayer.     Next  morning  the  miner's  son 


THE    REFORMATION  99 

Stood  before  all,  Emperor,  bishops  and  dignitaries. 
After  some  discussion  he  was  asked  for  a  direct 
answer. 

"  Since  your  imperial  Majesty  and  your  Highnesses 
demand  a  simple  answer,  I  will  give  you  one,  brief 
and  simple,  but  deprived  of  neither  its  teeth  nor  its 
horns.  Unless  I  am  convicted  of  error  by  the  testi- 
mony of  Scripture,  or  by  manifest  evidence  (for  I  put 
no  faith  in  the  mere  authority  of  the  Pope,  or  of  coun- 
cils, which  have  often  been  mistaken,  and  which  have 
often  contradicted  one  another,  recognizing  as  I  do  no 
other  guide  than  the  Bible,  the  word  of  God),  I  cannot, 
nor  will  not  retract,  for  we  must  never  act  contrary 
to  our  conscience. 

"  Such  is  my  profession  of  faith,  and  expect  none 
other  from  me.  I  have  done.  God  help  me. 
Amen  ! " 

Luther  was  immediately  excommunicated  and  con- 
demned. Respecting  his  assurance  of  safe  conduct, 
he  was  given  three  weeks  to  return  home. 

As  the  Diet  broke  up,  Luther  was  seized  by  faithful 
friends  who  carried  him  to  the  staunch  castle  at 
Wartburg,  situated  in  a  forest.  Here  he  lived  for  a 
year  disguised  in  the  dress  of  a  squire  and  known  as 
Squire  George.  Here  in  the  quiet  of  the  forest  he 
translated  the  Bible   into   German.     So  well   did   he 


100  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

write  that  the  Bible  became  immediately  a  living  book, 
and  the  foundation  of  German  literature. 

Luther  soon  found  that  he  had  a  large  number  of 
powerful  princes  who  followed  him  and  who  looked 
to  him  for  guidance,  so  he  left  his  safe  retreat  and 
went  back  to  Wittenberg.  Here  he  addressed  the 
men  who  had  the  power  to  maintain  any  position  they 
might  take  by  force  of  arms,  and  told  them  it  was 
their  right  and  their  duty,  founded  on  the  universal 
priesthood  of  all  beliefs,  to  take  in  hand  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  Church,  if  the  proper  organs  of  the 
Church,  the  Pope  and  bishops,  refused  to  do  so. 
Immediately  the  German  States  represented  by  these 
nobles,  drew  up  a  list  of  one  hundred  grievances 
against  the  See  of  Rome,  and  declared  that  they 
would  take  means  to  right  these  wrongs,  if  they  were 
not  changed. 

Luther  now  had  his  protests  against  Rome  voiced 
by  men  who  had  power.  The  reformation  became 
political.  On  one  side  were  Catholic  Princes  who 
looked  to  the  Pope  and  priesthood  for  guidance.  On 
the  other  were  the  Protestant  Princes  who  looked  to 
Luther  and  other  theologians  for  guidance. 

We  will  not  trace  the  conflict  between  these  two 
parties.  After  years  of  war  and  misery  the  Protes- 
tants   were    successful.     Both    the    Roman   and   the 


THE    REFORMATION  101 

Protestant  confessions  were  allowed ;  so  that  in  some 
places  the  power  of  the  Pope  and  priests  was  recog- 
nized, in  others  not.  In  some  churches  the  altar  was 
taken  away  and  fewer  forms  and  a  less  rigid  liturgy 
than  the  Romans,  used.  The  Mass,  or  Lord's  Supper, 
from  being  celebrated  daily,  was  celebrated  infre- 
quently. The  office  of  bishop  was  given  up  and  the 
governing  of  the  congregation  was  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  princes  or  organized  bodies  called  "  presbyteries." 
Luther  did  not  live  to  see  these  steps  taken.  Al- 
though he  must  have  seen  that  they  were  inevitable. 
On  the  night  of  February  17,  1546,  he  was  taken 
seriously  ill.  He  talked  a  great  deal  of  his  death.  In 
his  sleep  he  would  repeat :  "  Into  Thy  hands  I  com- 
mend my  spirit;  Thou  hast  redeemed  me,  O  Lord 
God  of  truth  !  " 

Suddenly  he  fell  back  in  a  swoon.  As  he  revived, 
one  of  the  doctors  standing  near  said  to  him, 
"  Reverend  father,  do  you  die  firm  in  the  faith  you 
have  taught  ?  "  Luther  opened  his  eyes  and  looked 
fixedly  at  the  doctor  and  replied,  firmly  and  distinctly, 
"  Yes  !  "  Soon  after  he  grew  paler  and  his  breathing 
fainter,  until  at  length  he  sent  forth  a  deep  sigh,  and 
the  great  reformer  was  dead. 

We  must  remember  Luther  as  a  great  Christian 
hero.     Living  in  a  time  when  it  was  dangerous  to  be 


I02  THE    HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

true  to  the  highest,  he  obeyed  the  voice  of  God  in  his 
heart  and  with  courage  and  boldness  performed  a 
gigantic  task.  Through  him  God  put  a  new  spirit 
into  hfe.  When  Luther  laid  his  hand  on  the  Bible 
and  deferred  to  it  as  the  only  true  authority,  he  gave 
to  his  day  what  was  most  needed.  He  visibly  voiced 
the  truth:  that  no  church  can  be  a  true  church  of 
Christ  unless  it  lives  and  works  according  to  the 
Scripture. 

28.  The  Reformation  in  France.  John  Calvin, 
1509-1564. 

The  spirit  of  revolt  against  the  Papacy  was  wide- 
spread over  Europe.  Each  nation  went  about  reform- 
ing its  religious  life,  in  different  ways,  but  the  end 
sought  and  attained  was  the  same :  liberty  to  read  the 
Bible  and  live  as  God  dictates  by  man's  conscience 
instead  of  a  life  of  unthinking  obedience  to  the 
Roman  Church. 

In  France  where  people  were  always  opposed  to 
the  Italian  Papacy  (recall  the  years  of  the  Papacy  at 
Avignon),  the  Reformation  was  led  by  the  nobility,  and 
did  not  reach  the  common  people  until  it  crept  in 
from  Germany.  Thereupon  there  arose  two  parties  of 
Protestants.  These  became  very  bitter  towards  each 
other  and  went  to  such  extremes  that  during  the  night 
of  October   13,   1534,  the  Lutheran  party  posted  up 


THE    REFORMATION  IO3 

violent  placards  on  the  church  doors  and  walls  and 
even  in  the  King's  bedchamber,  attacking  the  Mass 
and  the  party  of  the  nobility.  This  act  led  to  per- 
secution. One  hundred  Protestants  were  held,  eight- 
een tongues  were  cut  out,  some  were  burned. 

This  persecution  caused  John  Calvin  to  come  for- 
ward with  his  "  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion," 
as  a  testimony  of  the  belief  of  the  Evangelicals. 
John  Calvin  was  thirty-five  years  old  when  Luther 
died.  In  early  youth  he  exhibited  seriousness  and 
strictness  in  his  views  of  morality.  He  lost  his 
mother  early  and  it  is  said  of  him  that  he  never  played 
as  a  boy.  At  twelve  he  was,  at  his  father's  request, 
appointed  chaplain  or  pastor  in  a  French  chapel. 
This  was  one  of  the  evil  customs  of  the  time.  Bish- 
ops and  Popes  gave  responsible  positions  to  boys  in 
order  that  their  relatives  might  derive  the  revenue 
therefrom.  We  read  of  a  cardinal  only  sixteen  years 
old  and  of  an  archbishop  five  years  old.  Calvin  did 
not  perform  any  of  the  duties  in  this  chapel.  He 
continued  with  his  studies  and  so  closely  applied  him- 
self that  his  mates  believed  that  he  condemned  the 
spirit  of  fun  and  play.  When  he  was  nineteen  he 
studied  in  the  University  of  Paris  and  other  French 
universities,  and  there  learned  about  the  Lutheran 
Reformation,  whose  principles  he  accepted. 


I04  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

During  the  persecutions  in  France  he  was  obUged 
to  flee  in  order  to  save  his  own  Hfe.  He  said,  "  If 
truth  does  not  desen>e  to  divell  hi  France,  neither  may 
I  dwell  there."  He  started  for  Bale,  and  being  obHged 
to  pass  through  Geneva  was  there  detained  by  Farel, 
the  leader  of  the  Protestant  Reform.  "  Calvin  en- 
deavored to  excuse  himself  on  the  plea  that  he  needed 
quiet  to  pursue  his  studies,  and  that  his  natural  shy- 
ness made  him  useless  in  active  reform.  But  Farel 
declared  to  him  in  the  name  of  God,  that  if  he  refused 
his  help,  when  the  Church  was  in  such  sore  need,  God 
would  curse  his  studies  and  his  rest."  Calvin  accord- 
ingly remained  and  filled  the  position  of  teacher  of 
theology. 

The  people  of  Geneva  at  that  time  were  struggling 
against  the  bishop  who  was  also  their  civil  ruler, 
and  had  accepted  the  reformation  theology  because 
it  was  opposed  to  that  of  the  bishops.  Having 
overthrown  these  powers,  Calvin  assisted  in  drawing 
up  a  system  of  Church  government,  which  was  to 
govern  the  city  also.  In  it  there  were  too  many  of 
Calvin's  religious  ideas.  All  power  was  given  to  the 
ministers.  There  was  to  be  no  more  dancing,  no 
music,  cards,  holidays  and  plays.  Even  the  church- 
bells  were  taken  down  and  made  into  cannon.  The 
people    of    Geneva    found    this    yoke   hard   to   bear. 


THE   REFORMATION  105 

They  were  a  gay  people,  fond  of  songs  and  dances 
and  holidays.  They  felt  that  Calvin  had  gone  to  an 
extreme  that  was  as  hard  as  obedience  to  the  Roman 
Pope. 

After  a  few  months  they  drove  Calvin  out  of  the 
city  and  went  back  to  their  pleasure  with  such  a  zeal 
that  the  city  was  endangered,  and  a  party  arose  who 
desired  Calvin's  return.  A  message  was  sent  to  the 
princes  of  Strasburg  where  Calvin  had  gone,  part  of 
which  read  as  follows :  "  Most  worshipful  Masters : 
Urge  the  most  illustrious  princes  of  Strasburg  that  in 
their  benevolence  they  not  only  restore  our  brother 
Calvin  to  us,  who  is  so  very  necessary  to  us,  and  who 
is  so  anxiously  sought  after  by  our  people,  but  that 
they  condescend  to  urge  him  to  come  hither  as  speedily 
as  possible."  Calvin  returned,  and  with  him  returned 
also  his  laws  against  wickedness.  He  built  a  civil 
condition  where  the  laws  were  religious  and  the  judges 
ministers.  Geneva  soon  became  known  as  a  pious 
community  where  there  was  no  luxury  and  no  crime. 

The  value  of  Calvin  is  in  the  fact  that  he  gave  a 
new  turn  to  the  Reformation.  As  the  movement  be- 
came victorious  there  was  a  strong  tendency  to  think 
that  freedom  from  the  control  of  the  Pope  was  license 
to  do  anything  or  think  anything.  Calvin  stood 
against  this  and  said  that  God  was  in  heaven,  and 


lOO  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

must  be  obeyed  by  men.     If  they  would   not  obey 
willingly  then  they  must  be  compelled  to  obey. 

He  had  no  idea  of  toleration.  There  was  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Servetus,  who  was  visiting  Geneva.  This 
man  did  not  agree  with  Calvin  on  the  Trinity.  Calvin 
said  he  blasphemed  God,  brought  him  to  trial  and  had 
him  burned  at  the  stake.  This  was  wrong,  it  was 
utilizing  Romish  methods  under  a  Protestant  name. 
Luther  was  not  so  hard  hearted.  Calvin  is  one  of  the 
"best  hated"  men  in  history.  Some  of  the  people  in 
Geneva  called  their  dogs  by  his  name.  He  was  hated 
by  the  Roman  Church  because  he  was  the  author  of 
the  system  that  opposed  the  proudest  and  most  in- 
vincible front  to  Rome.  By  statesmen,  because  he 
instituted  a  Church  that  acted  as  a  revolutionary  force 
in  history.  By  Anglican  bishops  and  divines,  be- 
cause he  was  the  father  of  Puritanism.  But  the  man 
who  touched  so  many  men,  must  have  been  a  man  of 
decided  power,  raised  by  God  to  do  a  certain  work. 

29.  Reformation  in  England. 

We  come  to  that  part  of  the  Reformation  with 
which  we  as  citizens  of  the  United  States  are  more 
directly  connected.  It  was  from  England  that  most 
all  forms  of  religious  life  entered  United  States. 
England  was  the  last  country  to  fall  under  Roman 
power  in  the  eleventh  century ;  and  first  to  escape  in 


THE    REFORMATION  10/ 

the  fourteenth.  The  reasons  for  this  were  (i)  its  island 
position,  it  was  a  long  way  from  Rome  and  (2)  its 
strong  nationality,  its  love  for  its  own  land. 

We  must  glance  for  a  moment  backward  and  see 
the  course  over  which  we  have  come. 

1.  We  began  in  England  with  Wiclif,  "  The  Morn- 
ing Star  of  the  Reformation."  We  saw  him  take  a 
bold  stand  against  the  Pope  asserting  that  the  papal 
tax  was  not  legal  and  should  no  longer  be  paid. 

2.  Luther  in  Germany  took  the  next  step  when  he 
asserted  that  the  Pope's  power  and  the  power  of  the 
council  was  subordinate  to  the  Scriptures. 

3.  Then  came  Calvin  who  built  up  a  system  of  po- 
litical life  free  from  the  Pope  and  priest  and  based  on 
obedience  to  God. 

These  are  the  fundamentals  of  the  Reformation. 
These  effected  church  life  in  Germany,  France,  Eng- 
land, Switzerland,  The  Netherlands  and  all  reforming 
nations. 

(i)  Henry  the  Eighth. — The  central  figure  in  Eng- 
land is  King  Henry  VIII,  1509-1547.  Green  thus  de- 
scribes him  :  "  Henry  the  Eighth  had  hardly  completed 
his  eighteenth  year  when  he  mounted  the  throne,  but 
the  beauty  of  his  person,  his  vigor  and  skill  in  arms, 
seemed  matched  by  a  frank  and  generous  temper  and 
a  nobleness  of  political  aims.     Already  in  stature  and 


I08  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

Strength  a  king  among  his  fellows,  taller  than  any, 
bigger  than  any,  a  mighty  wrestler,  a  mighty  hunter, 
an  archer  of  the  best,  a  knight  who  rode  down  rider 
after  rider  in  the  tourney,  the  young  monarch  com- 
bined with  his  bodily  lordliness,  a  largeness  and  versa- 
tility of  mind  which  was  to  be  the  special  characteristic 
of  the  age  that  had  begun." 

While  the  monk  Luther  was  stirring  up  trouble  in 
Germany  and  making  the  Pope  uneasy,  Henry  VIII 
brought  him  a  problem  that  did  not  tend  to  increase 
his  comfort.  Henry  had  married  his  deceased  brother's 
widow ;  and  as  that  was  against  the  laws  of  the  Church 
(Leviticus  20:  21),  he  obtained  permission  to  do  it  from 
the  Pope,  There  was  considerable  difference  in  the 
ages  of  the  two,  and  Henry  soon  became  tired  of  her 
and  desired  Anne  Boleyn,  a  lady  of  the  court.  Henry 
argued  that  what  the  Pope  had  done,  he  could  undo, 
so  he  applied  to  him  for  a  divorce  from  his  first  wife. 

Henry  had  every  reason  to  expect  the  divorce. 
He  had  supported  the  Pope  against  Luther  and  had 
stood  so  strongly  against  some  of  the  reforming  tend- 
encies, that  the  Pope  had  given  him  the  title,  "  De- 
fender of  the  Faith."  While  the  Pope  and  Henry  were 
on  good  terms,  there  were  many  political  reasons  why 
the  Pope  could  not  grant  the  divorce.  The  principal 
reason  was  :  the  Pope  was  very  much  under  the  power 


THE   REFORMATION  ICQ 

of  the  Emperor  Charles  V  who  was  a  nephew  of 
Henry's  wife  and  who  opposed  the  divorce  for  the 
sake  of  his  aunt.  The  case  dragged  on  for  six  years, 
until  Henry  stood  ready  to  side  with  any  one  who  was 
against  the  Pope.  Thomas  Cranmer  now  appeared. 
He  was  a  professor  at  Oxford,  and  advised  the  King  to 
appeal  his  case  to  the  Universities  of  Christendom  that 
they  could  settle  the  question  better  than  the  Pope. 

Henry  gained  an  opinion  in  favor  of  divorce  from 
Oxford  and  Cambridge.  He  elevated  Cranmer  to  be 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  Cranmer,  in  opposition 
to  the  opinion  of  the  Pope,  officially  declared  the  mar- 
riage null  and  void.  This  meant  the  setting  aside  of 
the  Pope's  supremacy. 

The  Reformation  began  in  earnest,  for  the  King  and 
Parliament  were  united  against  the  Pope,  and  together 
they  put  forward  a  succession  of  measures,  whereby 
the  English  Church  was  to  be  torn  away  from  the 
Romish. 

1.  The  "  Bishop  of  Rome  "  (note  the  term)  was  de- 
nied all  jurisdiction  in  England. 

2.  No  longer  were  clergymen  to  appeal  to  Rome, 
but  to  the  King. 

3.  Bishops  should  renounce  the  Pope  and  obey  the 
King. 

Once  again  England  was  free  from  the  Papal  yoke. 


no  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

God  overrules  evil  by  good.  Henry's  divorce  was 
wrong,  but  it  aroused  him  to  assert  the  old  English 
independence  from  the  Pope  which  existed  before  King 
John's  time. 

(2)  The  Bible  and  Prayer  Book. — With  the  abolish- 
ment of  Roman  supremacy  came  great  changes  in  the 
English  Church.  First  of  all  came  the  translation  of 
the  Bible  into  English.  Wiclif  's  Bible  had  been  dis- 
tributed only  in  manuscript  copies,  and  its  phrases  in 
many  ways  were  old  and  not  acceptable  to  the  clergy 
of  the  time  of  Henry  the  Eighth.  The  doctrinal  con- 
troversies which  arose,  made  frequent  appeal  to  the 
Bible  necessary  and  thereby  a  demand  for  a  new 
edition  of  an  English  Bible  was  created.  Two  unsuc- 
cessful private  attempts  were  made  by  Tyndale  1526 
and  Coverdale  1535,  to  translate  the  Bible.  Tyn- 
dale's  translation  was  the  more  permanent  of  the 
two,  as  it  became  a  standard  for  future  translators. 
In  1539  after  five  years  of  joint  labor  the  bishops 
issued  what  is  known  as  The  Great  Bible.  Then 
the  following  proclamation  was  issued  :  Every  parish 
priest  is  ordered  to  "provide  one  book  of  the  whole 
Bible  of  the  largest  volume,  in  English,  and  have 
the  same  set  up  in  some  convenient  place  within  the 
Church  whereat  the  parishioners  may  most  com- 
modiously  resort  to  the  same  and  read  it,"  and  the 
clergy  were  further  instructed  :  "  to  discourage  no  one 


THE    REFORMATION  III 

privily  or  openly  from  reading  the  Bible,  but  to  ex- 
pressly provoke,  stir,  and  exhort  every  person  to  read 
the  same  as  that  which  is  the  very  lively  word  of 
God." 

In  those  days  printing  was  very  expensive  and 
especial  care  was  taken  for  preserving  the  copies. 
They  were  bound  in  wood  with  heavy  iron  clasps  and 
were  chained  to  the  reading  desk  or  to  the  wall  of  the 
church.  Here  the  people  would  gather  at  all  hours  of 
the  day.  Not  all  could  read,  but  all  could  listen  while 
others  read. 

In  1543  the  systematic  reading  of  the  Scripture  in 
the  Churches  was  ordered.  Sundays  and  holy  days 
lessons  from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  were  read. 
How  different  was  the  Christian  spirit  now,  from  the 
Papal  spirit  which  kept  the  Bible  from  the  people. 

There  was  a  great  change  in  the  manner  of  worship. 
The  service  was  no  longer  said  or  sung  in  Latin,  but 
in  English.  In  1549  the  first  English  prayer  book 
was  put  forth.  This  was  made  from  five  different 
books  used  in  the  worship  of  the  Church. 

(i)  Primers.  These  were  little  books  of  prayers  for 
individual  use. 

(2)  The  Breviary,  which  contained  the  ordinary 
daily  services  in  Latin. 

(3)  The  Missal,  which  contained  the  Mass  in  Latin. 


112  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

(4)  The  Pontifical  which  contained"  the  services  for 
ordaining  ministers  and  consecrating  bishops. 

(5)  The  Manual  containing  occasional  offices  used 
by  the  priest. 

In  the  new  Prayer  Book  they  no  longer  used  the  word 
"  Mass,"  but  "  The  Supper  of  the  Lord  and  the  Holy 
Communion,  commonly  called  the  Mass."  Every 
prayer  to  the  Virgin  Mary  was  left  out  and  people  in- 
structed to  pray  to  God.  When  formerly  only  the 
bread  of  the  Lord's  Supper  had  been  given  to  the  peo- 
ple, now  they  gave  both  bread  and  wine.  In  the  ma- 
king of  the  Prayer  Book  it  was  not  the  intention  of 
the  compiler  to  get  as  far  away  from  Roman  customs 
as  possible.  In  matters  of  doctrine  they  were  guided 
by  the  Bible  and  the  belief  of  the  Church  during  the 
first  five  centuries,  that  is,  before  Rome  had  begun  to 
exercise  dictatorial  power.  They  sought  to  retrace 
the  steps  of  the  Church  back  to  simpler  and  more 
Apostolic  methods,  taking  into  consideration  the  fact 
that  the  Church  had  grown  and  in  many  things  could 
not  follow  the  Apostolic  model.  In  matters  of  ritual 
they  sought  to  retain  those  things  that  time  and  ex- 
perience had  proved  to  be  helpful  in  a  service  of 
worship. 

(3)  Dissolution  of  the  Monasteries. — The  Reforma- 
tion in  England  effected  the  life  of  the  monks  tremen- 


THE    REFORMATION  II3 

dously.  Up  to  this  time  there  had  been  many  monas- 
teries scattered  over  England,  holding  rich  lands  and  de- 
riving large  revenues.  In  all  but  a  few  cases  these  were 
in  sympathy  with  the  Pope  and  opposed  the  Reforma- 
tion. In  a  word  the  monasteries  in  England  had  out- 
lived the  work  which  they  were  created  to  reform. 
The  friar  had  no  religious  devotion,  no  intellectual 
energy,  he  was  a  beggar.  The  monk  was  a  land 
owner,  anxious  only  to  enlarge  his  revenue  and  live  in 
indolence  and  self-indulgence.  They  practiced  great 
deception  on  the  people.  At  Boxley  in  Kent  there 
was  a  famous  crucifix,  which  had  long  awed  the  credu- 
lous by  bowing  its  head  when  any  one  approached. 
This  was  taken  down  and  carried  to  London  where 
its  springs  and  manner  of  working  were  disclosed  to 
the  public. 

Such  evidence  prepared  the  way  for  the  dissolution 
of  the  monastery.  Over  one  thousand  were  broken 
up,  their  lands  given  to  peers,  their  money  and  plate 
sold.  Little  of  the  monastic  wealth  came  to  the 
bishops  or  clergy,  for  Henry  used  it  to  gain  power  to 
further  his  own  purposes  of  making  the  king  supreme 
in  England.  In  spite  of  the  many  wrongs  committed, 
much  good  came  from  the  movement.  Some  of  the 
monastic  establishments  became  cathedrals.  West- 
minster Abbey,  Cathedrals  at  Oxford,  Chester,  and 


114  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

many  others  are  remnants  of  monastery  dissolution. 
By  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries,  powerful  eccles- 
iastics and  prelates  disappeared,  mitred  abbots  who  had 
seats  in  Parliament  were  forced  to  give  up  that  privi- 
lege and  ever  since  that  time  the  temporal  peers  have 
had  the  majority  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

(4)  Edzvard  VI. — Henry  died  in  1547.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Edward  VI,  his  son.  Edward  was  ten 
years  old  when  he  came  to  the  throne.  During  his 
reign  he  was  under  the  guidance  of  nobles  who 
favored  the  Protestant  side  more  than  Henry  VIII. 
Articles  in  faith  were  drawn  up  more  Protestant  in 
tone  than  the  Prayer  Book.  Images  were  removed 
from  the  churches,  priests  were  permitted  to  marry. 

Three  men  were  prominent  in  guiding  the  reform, 
Archbishop  Cranmer,  and  Bishops  Ridley  and  Latimer, 

(5)  Reaction  tinder  Mary  First. — In  1553  Edward 
was  succeeded  by  Mary  I,  a  loyal  Roman  Catholic. 
She  had  but  one  ambition  and  that  was  to  bring  Eng- 
land back  to  the  Pope.  To  this  end  all  the  Protestant 
statutes  were  set  aside,  and  the  old  Papal  laws  reestab- 
lished. Most  terribly  she  persecuted  those  who  would 
not  give  their  allegiance  to  Rome.  For  three  years 
the  persecution  raged.  Two  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  were  burned  at  the  stake.  Ridley  and  Latimer 
were  condemned  to  die  together.     Fastened  back  to 


THE    REFORMATION  1 15 

back  to  the  same  stake  they  met  a  terrible  fate  in  the 
spirit  of  the  martyrs  of  old.  As  the  fagots  were 
piled  on,  Latimer  said,  "  Be  of  good  cheer,  Master 
Ridley,  and  play  the  man ;  we  shall  this  day  light  such 
a  candle  by  God's  grace,  in  England,  as  I  trust  shall 
never  be  put  out."  Six  months  later  Cranmer  was 
burned  at  the  same  place  after  having  weakened  and 
taken  back  some  of  his  writings.  In  the  end,  how- 
ever, he  was  true,  asserting  at  the  stake  with  a  loud 
voice  his  belief  in  all  that  he  had  said.  Latimer's 
words  came  true,  for  those  fires  burned  into  the  hearts 
of  England  a  horror  for  the  Papacy  that  time  cannot 
erase. 

In  1558  Mary  was  succeeded  by  Elizabeth  (1558- 
1603).  She  was  hailed  with  great  joy  for  the  people 
knew  her  to  be  Protestant  at  the  heart  and  they  were 
tired  of  persecution  and  burning.  She  was  a  vain 
woman,  with  great  courage  and  devotion  to  public 
good.  She  loved  England.  All  the  old  Protestant 
ways  were  replaced,  only  some  of  the  Roman  ritual 
was  added,  for  the  queen  liked  the  beauty  of  the  Roman 
service  and  disliked  the  barrenness  of  the  Protestant 
ritual.  She  had  a  prayer  book  published  very  much 
like  the  prayer  book  of  1549  and  reduced  the  articles 
of  religion  from  forty-two,  to  thirty-nine. 

(6)    Spanish    Armada. — During   all   this    time   the 


Il6  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

Pope  was  not  silent.  After  having  excommunicated 
Henry  VIII  he  placed  a  ban  upon  England.  As  long 
as  that  ban  remained  any  nation  who  had  the  power 
could  go  in  and  take  possession  of  England.  In  the 
middle  of  Elizabeth's  reign  the  Pope  seeing  that  Eng- 
land was  slipping  from  him,  commissioned  the  Span- 
iards to  execute  his  ban  upon  the  English.  The 
Spaniards  had  the  finest  navy  in  the  world  while  the 
English  navy  was  small  and  badly  equipped.  On 
July  19,  1588,  the  Spanish  fleet  appeared.  Disposed 
in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  the  horns  of  which  were 
seven  miles  asunder,  the  gilded  floating  castles  of 
Spain,  with  their  goodly  standards  and  martial  music, 
moved  slowly  along  the  channel  with  an  air  of  indolent 
pomp.  On  July  27  they  anchored  in  Calais  Road. 
Some  of  the  ships  carried  a  supply  of  Romish  priests 
to  be  placed  in  charge  of  the  English  parishes.  They 
also  brought  with  them  implements  of  the  Spanish  In- 
quisition for  the  torture  of  heretics. 

At  midnight  on  July  28,  the  English  silently  towed 
eight  small  vessels  covered  with  tar  and  filled  with  in- 
flammable material  towards  the  Armada.  These  were 
ignited  and  allowed  to  drift  into  the  midst  of  the  150 
gorgeous  vessels.  In  fear  the  Spaniards  cut  the  cables 
and  put  to  sea.  Within  a  short  time  a  violent  storm 
arose  which  drove  the  Spanish  vessels  north  onto  the 


THE    REFORMATION  II/ 

rocky  coasts  of  Argyllshire  and  Kerry.  Thua  snded 
the  last  attempt  ever  made  by  the  Pope  to  enfoice  the 
English  to  obedience.  To  this  day  Englishmen  see 
in  that  storm  the  merciful  hand  of  God  saving  the 
Church  and  the  realm. 

30.  Counter  Reformation. 

As  the  clock  goes  because  the  pendulum  swings 
from  one  extreme  to  another,  as  man  walks  by  losing 
and  regaining  his  balance,  so  history  develops.  Our 
attention  has  been  fixed  on  the  extreme  movement  of 
the  Protestant  reformation.  During  these  years  we 
must  not  think  that  the  Roman  Church  made  no 
efforts  to  reform.  When  Luther  protested  against  the 
wickedness  of  the  Church,  there  were  many  who 
agreed  with  him.  The  question  was :  just  what  por- 
tion of  the  Church  life  must  the  reform  touch  ?  There 
arose  a  party  which  said,  "  Let  us  leave  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity  as  they  are,  but  let  us  reform  its  organ- 
ization and  its  discipline  over  clergy  and  people.'' 
This  was  a  movement  that  brought  forth  out  of  the 
conflict  with  Protestants  the  Order  of  Jesuits  and  the 
Council  of  Trent,  and  established  the  modern  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 

(i)  The  Order  of  Jesuits. — We  will  look  first  at  the 
man  who  founded  the  Order,  and  then  at  the  Order 
itself. 


Il8  THE    HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

Ignatius  Loyola  was  born  in  a  Spanish  castle  on  the 
Bay  of  Biscay  in  1491.  Like  all  noble  youths  of 
those  days  he  was  trained  for  war.  Tall  and  hand- 
some, he  delighted  in  gay  and  splendid  attire  and 
practiced  graceful  and  continuous  movements. 

During  a  battle  he  was  wounded  in  both  legs.  This 
was  a  great  misfortune  to  one  who  loved  the  courts 
and  the  excitement  of  battle.  During  his  illness  he 
showed  his  great  strength  of  will  and  ability  to  endure 
pain  by  allowing  the  surgeons  to  operate  upon  him 
until  he  recovered  without  being  a  cripple.  Ignatius 
was  then  thirty  years  old. 

While  confined  to  his  bed  he  read  some  of  the  lives 
of  the  saints.  For  the  first  time  he  read  of  men  who 
did  glorious  deeds  and  suffered  pain,  not  to  bring 
honor  to  themselves,  but  to  glorify  God.  After  medi- 
tation he  determined  to  devote  himself  to  this  same 
cause.  As  soon  as  he  recovered  he  went  to  a  monas- 
tery and  hung  his  sword  on  a  pillar  of  the  altar.  Then 
he  laid  aside  all  his  gay  clothing  and,  clad  in  beggars' 
rags,  returned  to  a  cave.  Here  he  beat  and  cut  his 
body,  fasted  and  prayed  for  the  forgiveness  of  his  past 
sins.  After  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  he  decided  to 
study.  At  Barcelona  he  took  his  place  among  boys 
that  he  might  begin  at  the  beginning.  In  1528  he 
went  to  the  University  of  Paris.     Here  he  met  a  few 


THE    REFORMATION  II9 

young  men  inbued  with  the  same  spirit.  Together  in 
a  church  they  vowed  never  to  marry,  never  to  have 
anything  of  their  own.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  great  Order  of  Jesuits.  At  first  Ignatius  called  it 
"  The  Company  of  Jesus  "  and  later  he  was  chosen  to 
be  its  superior.  As  superior  he  made  them  take  a 
third  vow,  that  of  absolute  obedience.  Soon  the  order 
was  recognized  by  the  Pope  and  the  members  were 
made  priests ;  then  the  vow  of  obedience  was  given  to 
the  Pope  as  well  as  to  the  superior. 

Ignatius  died  July  31,  1556.  However  much  we 
disagree  with  him  and  his  order,  we  should  remember 
him  as  a  strong,  sincere  and  loyal  soldier  of  Christ 
living  up  to  the  highest  ideal  he  knew.  When  a  man 
does  that  the  world  respects  him.  The  ideal  of  his 
order  was  military  obedience  in  the  spiritual  life  as 
well  as  in  the  practical  life.  The  Jesuits  gave  up  all 
relations  and  friends,  they  went  all  over  the  world  as 
missionaries  and  worked  hard  in  savage  and  civilized 
lands  with  no  thought  of  self.  Especially  in  South 
and  North  America  did  these  men  do  good  work 
among  the  Indians,  teaching  them  not  only  religion, 
but  trades  and  farming. 

This  order  was  a  great  foe  to  Protestantism,  for  at 
first  the  lives  of  the  Jesuit  priests  were  so  self-sacrifi- 
cing that  men  and  women  were  attracted.     "  By  their 


120  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  and  many  followed  them 
because  their  holy  lives  were  the  fruits  of  sincere  and 
earnest  devotion. 

But  their  idea  of  obedience  was  wrong.  They 
wanted  men  to  obey  without  thinking,  and  if  they  did 
not,  they  were  subjected  to  torture  until  they  died  or 
submitted.  The  spiritual  court  that  tried  and  tortured 
men  into  obedience  was  called  the  Inquisition  and  its 
object  was  to  stamp  out  opposition  to  the  Roman 
Church  by  force.  This  was  long  after  Loyola's  day. 
Thus  while  the  Jesuits  strengthened  the  Roman 
Church  by  keeping  its  doctrines,  while  they  tried  to 
reform  its  manner  of  life,  yet  Protestantism  was 
stronger  because  it  taught  that  no  man  should  be 
compelled  to  obey  another  man,  rather  each  man 
should  love  to  obey  God  because  God's  commands  are 
right. 

(2)  Council  of  Trent. — So  much  statement  of 
doctrinal  belief  on  the  part  of  the  reformers,  so  much 
persecution  of  heretics  on  the  part  of  the  Roman 
Church,  compelled  the  Roman  Church  to  state  clearly 
its  doctrinal  position.  In  1545  a  great  council  was 
called  at  Trent  in  Austria.  Protestants  and  Romanists 
were  alike  invited  to  come.  The  intention  was  to 
heal  the  break  and  unite  the  Church.  But  the  Jesuits 
were  the  strong  men  of  the  council  and  they  were  un- 


THE    REFORMATION  121 

willing  to  make  any  compromises.  The  council  lasted 
for  nearly  twenty  years  with  the  result,  that  the 
Protestants  left  in  disgust  and  the  Jesuits  had  things 
their  own  way.  What  the  council  said  then,  the 
Roman  Church  believes  to-day ;  absolute  obedience 
must  be  rendered  by  the  individual  to  the  Church ; 
seven  sacraments  were  to  be  maintained :  Baptism, 
Communion,  Confession,  Penance,  Holy  Orders,  Holy 
Matrimony,  Unction,  the  Virgin  Mary  was  to  be  wor- 
shiped, saints  prayed  to  and  relics  revered 

The  river  that  does  not  flow  becomes  stagnant. 
Thus  we  leave  the  great  Church  that  had  borne  the 
banner  of  Christianity  through  the  terrible  days  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  It  defined  its  Christianity  too  nar- 
rowly, it  put  the  emphasis  on  the  method  of  the 
Christian  life,  and  neglected  the  spirit  within.  To-day 
it  contains  many  faithful  soldiers  who  are  living  up  to 
their  light,  but  their  light  is  behind  them  instead  of 
before  them.  We  wait  and  pray  that  God  may  send 
His  angel  to  trouble  the  water  and  bring  down  from 
heaven  the  spirit  of  life. 

31.  The  Protestant  Spirit. 

As  the  events  of  the  days  of  Luther  and  Calvin  be- 
came more  and  more  distant  how  did  men  begin  to  view 
the  Protestant  phase  of  Christianity?  The  Christians 
of  the  Middle  Ages  were  very  clearly  organized,  the 


122  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

clergy  represented  the  bishop,  the  bishop  represented 
the  Pope,  and  the  Pope  represented  God,  a  clear  and 
well  defined  channel  by  which  a  god,  who  dwelt  away 
from  the  world,  sent  His  messages  of  guidance,  and 
power  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  into  the  world. 
Against  all  this  the  reformers  asserted  the  right  of 
each  man  to  listen  to  his  conscience  and  follow  its 
dictates,  as  the  voice  of  God.  The  Protestants  cast 
down  one  Pope  and  made  every  man  a  Pope,  a  priest, 
a  king.  They  elevated  the  Bible  as  the  supreme 
message  to  the  world.  This  was  the  theory,  and  not 
until  these  days  have  we  seen  the  value  of  the  re- 
alization of  the  theory,  for  to-day  one  ideal  animates  all 
noble  men:  the  increase  of  man  s  frecdoju  to  think  and 
move  and  enjoy  life  which  is  his  rightful  inheritance. 

But  freedom  does  not  mean  that  a  man  can  do  just 
as  he  likes.  To  follow  some  of  his  desires  would 
mean  that  he  would  come  in  conflict  with,  and  take 
away  the  freedom  of  others.  That  is  what  Calvin  did. 
He  took  away  the  freedom  of  the  people  of  Geneva. 
He  made  them  serve  God  whether  they  wanted  to  or 
not.  Freedom  comes  when  we  do  the  things  that 
God  commands  in  our  conscience,  because  they  are 
right  and  therefore  we  love  to  do  them.  Only  in 
God's  service  is  there  perfect  freedom. 

Here  is  the  greatness  of  life  that  the  Reformation 


THE    REFORMATION  12$ 

opened  to  us.  No  longer  do  we  tremble  before  God 
and  before  the  work  of  His  hands.  We  know  that 
we  are  made  in  His  image,  and  that  our  mind  is  given 
to  us  for  development,  and  the  more  we  grow,  and 
the  more  we  study  and  work,  the  larger  are  our  views 
of  life.  We  come  to  see  God  as  Father  and  Crea- 
tor, Jesus  Christ  His  Son  as  our  Pattern  and  Guide 
and  all  the  forces  of  nature,  gravitation,  electricity, 
the  wind  and  waves,  the  land  and  all  that  it  bears, 
these  become  our  servants  with  but  one  purpose  for 
existence,  to  help  us  to  be  stronger  and  better  men 
and  women,  more  like  Jesus  Christ. 

32.  Puritans  and  Pilgrims. 

We  have  now  to  see  how  this  idea  of  man's  free- 
dom worked  itself  out.  The  open  Bible  in  the  hands 
of  the  people  brought  about  far-reaching  results  in 
England.  There  the  middle  and  peasant  classes 
were  present  in  large  numbers  in  the  congregations 
of  the  Church ;  honest  and  earnest,  the  new  light 
from  the  Bible  became  a  new  light  in  their  lives. 
Sincerity  in  religion  and  purity  in  living  became  their 
ideals.  This  was  the  germ  of  the  movement  known 
as  Puritanism.  As  the  movement  gathered  strength, 
these  people,  the  Puritans,  desired  to  follow  Calvin 
rather  than  Elizabeth  in  matters  of  reform.  They 
disliked  vestments  of  any  form  and  objected  to  bish- 
ops and  especially  to  the  idea  of  the  sovereigns  hav- 
ing the  leadership  in  religious  affairs. 


124  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

At  first  they  did  not  separate  from  the  Church  of 
England  but  went  on  trying  to  influence  the  people 
within  the  Church  to  live  as  their  consciences  led 
them.  But  soon  the  state  entered  into  the  religious 
conflict.  Elizabeth  wanted  one  head  to  the  nation, 
one  Church,  one  form  of  service,  one  prayer  book, 
one  set  of  articles.  She  said,  there  must  be  uni- 
formity. In  1563,  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  religion 
were  put  forward  and  every  clergyman  was  obliged 
to  conform  to  them.  Many  refused  and  resigned 
their  parishes.  Some  who  objected,  remained  in 
hopes  that  there  would  be  a  change,  while  others 
remained  and  stirred  up  strife. 

Thus  the  Church  was  torn  by  dissension.  Church- 
men and  Puritans  agreed  in  the  main  points  of  theology, 
but  stood  at  variance  in  regard  to  Christian  govern- 
ment and  methods  of  worship.  The  Puritan  move- 
ment gathered  strength,  its  followers  were  able  to  as- 
sert themselves  by  force  of  arms,  and  in  1645  their  forces 
under  Oliver  Cromwell,  met  and  defeated  the  royal 
army  at  Naseby  in  Northhampton.  Cromwell  became 
protector  of  England  and  from  1649  to  1660  England 
was  under  a  Puritan  government.  There  are  men  in 
this  period  whose  relation  to  Christianity  was  of  such 
a  nature  that  their  names  should  be  remembered. 

(l )  Oliver  Cromwell  {^1599-1658). — At  an  early  age, 
after  an  incomplete  education  at  Cambridge  we  find 


THE    REFORMATION  125 

him  succeeding  his  father  as  a  county  squire.  Early 
he  associated  himself  with  the  Puritan  party  with 
whom  he  soon  became  distinguished  for  his  earnest- 
ness and  wisdom.  At  twenty-nine  years  of  age  he 
was  elected  to  Parhament  where  he  soon  gained  the 
ill-will  of  the  King,  by  a  short  blunt  speech  condemning 
the  preaching  of  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  as  "  flat 
popery."  Dispatched  to  his  home,  for  eleven  years 
he  worked  his  estate  having  little  respect  for  the  King 
and  condemning  his  unjust  schemes. 

Again  elected  to  Parliament  he  became  a  power. 
Sir  Philip  Warwick  says  of  him :  "  The  gentleman 
was  very  much  hearkened  to."  As  Parliament  and 
the  King  disagreed  more  and  more,  and  the  King  was 
condemned  for  his  treachery,  Cromwell  took  the  lead 
in  raising  troops  to  support  the  Puritan  side.  In  the 
civil  war  that  followed,  one  victory  followed  another 
until  Cromwell  was  supreme  and  the  King  beheaded. 
With  the  army  at  his  back,  Cromwell  exercised  great 
power  over  Parliament  whenever  it  degenerated  into  a 
body  given  to  useless  discussions.  (Read  Green's 
History  of  English  People,  page  581.)  Parhament 
legally  elected  him  protector,  he  refusing  to  be 
crowned  king.  It  is  to  Cromwell  that  the  people  of 
England  owe  their  constitutional  government.  His 
rehgion  was  practical.     He  felt  that  God  had  called 


126  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

him  to  cleanse  the  poHtical  Hfe  and  give  to  his  nation 
a  government  that  was  based  on  God's  will  and  not 
man's.  In  his  power  he  proclaimed  to  the  nation  that 
the  Puritan  aim  was  not  "  to  grasp  the  power  our- 
selves nor  to  keep  it  in  military  hands,  no,  not  for  a 
day,  but  to  call  to  the  government  men  of  affirmed 
fidelity  and  honesty."  And  when  the  Parliament  of 
his  choice  came  together  he  said  :  "  Convince  the 
nation  that  as  men  fearing  God  have  fought  them 
out  of  their  bondage  under  the  regal  power,  so  men 
fearing  God  do  now  rule  them  in  the  fear  of  God  ! 
Own  your  call,  for  it  is  of  God  !" 

In  great  humility  before  God  he  held  his  position 
and 'never  for  himself  but  for  God  did  he  work.  "I 
have  sought  the  Lord  day  and  night  that  He  would 
rather  slay  me  than  put  me  to  this  work."  The  nation 
approved  of  him  and  in  that  approval  he  saw  the  sign 
of  God's  call  and  he  considered  it  just  as  divine  as  the 
right  of  kings.  He  was  ready  to  follow  God  and  the 
people. 

"  If  my  calling  be  from  God,  and  my  testimony 
from  the  people,  God  and  the  people  shall  take  it  from 
me,  else  I  will  not  part  from  it." 

Cromwell  ruled  with  a  strong  and  severe  hand,  but 
he  ruled  wisely  and  as  the  times  demanded.  His 
home  policy  was   liberal,  while  in  foreign  lands  Eng- 


THE    REFORMATION  12/ 

land  was  respected  as  having  a  man  at  the  helm.  If 
he  grasped  power  it  was  only  because  he  sought  to 
promote  in  the  speediest  possible  manner  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  his  country. 

He  died  September  3,  1658,  and  was  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  In  1661,  when  the  reaction 
came  and  another  king  was  placed  on  the  throne,  his 
grave  was  broken  open  and  the  body  hung.  Later  it 
was  beheaded,  and  men  who  would  not  have  dared  to 
speak  evil  of  him  when  living,  insulted  the  dead  face 
of  Cromwell  elevated  on  a  pole.  Let  us  think  of 
Oliver  Cromwell  as  •'  An  inspired  hero  who  wrought 
in  the  consciousness  of  a  God-appointed  mission,  who 
humiliated  himself  only  before  God  and  never  before 
man,  and  to  whom  the  English  people  are  largely  in- 
debted for  that  liberty  which  made  them  foremost 
among  the  people  of  the  world,"  as  a  Christian  nation. 

(2)  John  Milton  [idoS-idy^). — One  of  the  best 
types  of  Puritanism  is  John  Milton  the  English  poet. 
He  was  born  when  the  Puritans  began  to  gain  control 
over  religion  and  politics  and  he  died  when  their  con- 
trol began  to  sink.  As  the  secretary  of  council  he 
saw  at  first  hand  all  the  political  and  religious  move- 
ments, and  was  responsible  for  some  of  them. 

Born  in  the  home  of  a  musician  he  inherited  his 
poetical  temperament  and  his  skill  on  the  organ  and 


128  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

lute.  Early  his  father  directed  his  studies  in  Greek, 
Latin,  Hebrew  and  Italian,  "  Which,"  as  he  describes, 
"  I  seized  with  such  eagerness  that  from  the  tenth  year 
of  my  age,  I  scarcely  ever  went  from  my  lessons  to 
bed  before  midnight."  At  Cambridge  he  took  the  de- 
gree of  the  Master  of  Arts,  afterwards  retiring  to  his 
father's  home  where  he  wrote  several  poems.  After 
the  death  of  his  father,  by  his  writings,  he  entered 
into  the  controversies  of  his  time,  being  elected  after 
King  Charles's  execution,  as  Secretary  to  the  Council 
of  State.  In  this  position  it  is  said  that  his  pen  was 
mightier  than  Cromwell's  sword. 

So  much  study  had  effected  his  eyesight  and  when 
Cromwell  was  dead  and  the  monarchy  was  restored  he 
was  obliged  both  by  his  practical  opinion  and  his  eye- 
sight to  return  to  private  life.  Here  his  temper  be- 
came hard  and  exacting.  Almost  in  a  literal  bondage 
did  he  keep  his  daughters,  who  were  forced  to  read  to 
him  in  languages  that  they  did  not  understand.  "  Clad 
in  black  he  sate  in  his  chamber  hung  with  rusty  green 
tapestry,  his  fair  brown  hair  falling  as  of  old  over  a 
clear  severe  face  that  still  retained  much  of  its  youth- 
ful beauty."  Here  he  wrote  one  of  the  greatest  poems 
of  literature.  Paradise  Lost.  This  is  the  great  poem 
of  Puritanism ;  it  is  the  struggle  of  good  and  evil 
which  is  pictured  here,  the  great  earnest  struggle  of  all 


THE    REFORMATION  1 29 

Puritans.  But  like  the  Puritans  it  lacks  that  human 
sympathy,  and  that  consciousness  of  love  and  sun- 
shine that  is  found  in  Shakespeare.  It  is  the  story  of 
a  lost  cause. 

(3)  John  Bunyan  [1628-1688). — We  see  the  in- 
ward life  of  the  Puritan  most  clearly  in  John  Bun- 
yan. He  was  the  son  of  a  poor  tinker.  Even  in  his 
childhood  he  fancied  that  he  had  visions  of  heaven 
and  hell.  He  says  :  "  When  I  was  but  a  child  of  nine 
or  ten  years  old,  these  things  did  so  distress  my  soul 
that  in  the  midst  of  my  many  sports  and  childish 
vanities,  amidst  my  vain  companions,  I  was  often 
much  cast  down  and  afflicted  in  my  mind  therewith. 
Yet  could  I  not  let  go  my  sins."  The  sins  were 
hockey  and  dancing  on  the  village  green,  and  other 
childhke  sports  that  are  encouraged  to-day.  In  1645 
he  was  in  the  army  under  Cromwell,  still  wrestling 
with  an  overpowering  sense  of  sin  created  by  the 
Puritanism  in  which  he  lived.  Hardly  twenty  years 
of  age  he  married  a  "  godly  "  wife,  young  and  penni- 
less as  himself.  It  is  said  that  they  were  so  poor  that 
they  could  scarce  muster  a  spoon  and  plate  between 
them.  Perhaps  his  poverty  was  responsible  for  the 
deep  gloom  into  which  he  fell.  So  sinful  did  he  feel, 
that :  "  Methought  I  saw  as  if  the  sun  that  shone  in 
heaven  did  grudge  to  give  me  light,  and  as  if  the  very 


I30  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

Stones  in  the  streets  and  the  tiles  upon  the  houses  did 
band  themselves  against  me.  Oh,  how  happy  now 
was  every  creature  over  me." 

After  two  years  of  dark  spiritual  struggle,  Bunyan 
was  at  last  assured  of  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins  and 
became  a  Baptist  minister.  His  preaching  was  illegal 
and  gave  great  offense,  and  when  Cromwell  had  died 
and  the  King  had  returned  to  the  throne,  he  was  cast 
into  prison  with  many  others  and  for  twelve  years 
suffered  separation  from  his  family  and  the  world. 
Here  he  wrote  the  great  Puritan  Book,  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress,"  which  later  became  popular.  In  1672 
King  Charles  issued  an  Act  of  Indulgence,  i.  e.,  tol- 
eration to  all  forms  of  religious  beliefs.  The  prisons 
were  emptied  and  Bunyan  came  out  and  published  his 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  By  1688,  before  Bunyan  died  ten 
editions  had  been  published,  its  popularity  proved  that 
the  religious  sympathies  of  England  were  mainly 
Puritan. 

In  the  book  we  see  the  power  that  the  Bible  had 
over  the  imagination  of  the  middle  class.  He  repre- 
sents a  pilgrim's  journey  from  the  City  of  Destruction 
to  the  Heavenly  City.  It  is  an  imaginative  journey 
such  as  only  the  Puritan  mind  could  take.  In  the 
journey  he  goes  through  the  Slough  of  Despond  and 
Doubting  Castle,  and  he  meets  and  is  tempted  by  Mr. 


THE    REFORMATION  1 31 

Worldly  Wiseman  and  Mr.  Legality.  The  book  shows 
supremely  the  Puritan  attitude.  God,  Heaven  and 
Christ  far  away,  and  man  journeying  alone  through 
difficulties  to  the  end.  There  is  no  trace  of  the  beau- 
tiful Christian  idea  of  brotherhood,  all  men  working 
together  and  helping  each  other  as  they  progress  to- 
wards Heaven. 

The  last  years  of  Bunyan's  life  were  spent  as  a  Bap- 
tist minister.     He  died  in  London  in  1688. 

33.  Puritan  Emigration. 

All  during  these  years  the  eyes  of  English  Puritans 
were  fixed  on  the  little  Puritan  settlement  in  America. 
In  1620  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  to  escape  persecution, 
had  sailed  to  Plymouth  and  since  then  many  attempts 
had  been  made  for  a  charter  establishing  a  colony  in 
Massachusetts.  In  1629  Charles  made  the  grant  and 
the  Puritans  regarded  it  as  one  of  God's  blessings. 
Every  Puritan  household  looked  towards  America, 
with  a  "  quite  stern  enthusiasm "  which  marked  the 
temper  of  the  time.  The  Puritan  emigrations  began 
on  such  a  scale  as  England  had  never  before 
seen.  "  They  were  in  great  part  men  of  the  profes- 
sional and  middle  classes  ;  some  of  them  men  of  large 
landed  estates,  some  zealous  clergymen  like  Cotton, 
Hooker,  and  Roger  Williams,  some  shrewd  London 
lawyers  and  scholars  from  Oxford.     These  men  were 


132  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

not  driven  forth  by  earthly  want  or  greed  of  gold,  but 
by  their  devotion  to  God,  and  their  zeal  for  a  godly 
worship  and  a  quiet  religious  life. 

But  with  the  strength  and  manliness  of  Puritan- 
ism came  narrowness  and  bigotry.  Roger  Williams 
was  driven  from  Massachusetts  to  Rhode  Island  be- 
cause he  said  that  his  conscience  should  be  regarded. 
The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  church  government 
by  bishops  were  rejected. 

In  eleven  years  two  hundred  emigrant  ships  had 
crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  twenty  thousand  Englishmen 
had  found  refuge  in  the  new  land. 

34.  The  Fall  of  Puritanism. 

Puritanism  did  not  succeed  because  it  lacked  the 
true  Christian  spirit.  They  were  too  strict  and  paid 
too  much  attention  to  the  letter  of  the  law  and  not 
enough  to  the  spirit.  They  lacked  the  feeling  of 
brotherhood  which  binds  all  men  together. 

Thus  when  Cromwell  died,  the  external  power  of 
the  Puritans  died.  He  was  their  head,  to  him  they 
gave  allegiance,  and  when  no  one  arose  with  his 
power,  the  party  as  a  political  party  became  divided 
and  in  division  lost  its  strength. 

England  had  been  ruled  too  many  years  by  a  mon- 
arch to  accept  readily  the  idea  of  a  Protector  in 
any    other  than  Cromwell.     Charles  II  rode  in  to 


THE   REFORMATION  133 

London  in  majesty  and  pomp.  The  period  of  the 
Restoration  of  the  Monarchy  was,  as  any  reaction  is, 
a  period  of  debauchery  and  the  reinstatement  of  all 
that  the  Puritans  had  expelled.  But  when  the  reaction 
was  over  and  the  pettiness  of  Puritanism  had  been  dis- 
pelled, then  its  real  work  and  value  began  to  show  it- 
self. A  kingdom  of  righteousness  had  been  built  not 
in  the  external  government  as  Cromwell  hoped,  and 
as  Calvin  strove  for,  but  in  the  hearts  and  consciences 
of  men.  The  most  of  Englishmen  took  up  a  sober, 
earnest  life  based  on  a  love  of  Protestantism  and  Free- 
dom. Suddenly  the  influences  that  moulded  history 
up  to  this  time — theological  discussions,  traditions  and 
customs,  lost  power  over  the  minds  of  men.  Industry 
and  science,  the  love  of  popular  freedom  and  law, 
tended  to  force  England  to  bring  every  custom  and 
tradition  to  the  test  of  the  common  sense  of  man. 

35.  Rise  of  Denominations. 

Before  leaving  the  period  of  Puritanism  we  must 
take  a  glimpse  at  the  various  bodies  of  Christians  who 
separated  themselves  from  the  English  Church  and 
from  which  we  derive  the  divided  state  of  Christendom 
under  which  the  cause  of  Christianity  suffers  to-day. 
We  will  try  to  study  them  in  the  order  in  which  they 
came  into  existence. 

(i)     Presbyterians. — In  1571  when  Queen  Elizabeth 


134  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

was  trying  to  establish  civil  order  and  uniformity  by  en- 
deavoring to  strike  a  medium  between  the  Catholic  and 
Protestant  parties  of  her  realm,  there  arose  a  company 
of  clergymen  who  gathered  under  the  leadership  of 
Thomas  Cartwright.  Cartwright  had  returned  from 
Geneva  with  a  strong  faith  in  Calvin  and  the  system  of 
Christian  government  devised  by  him.  He  and  his  fol- 
lowers recklessly  condemned  all  the  ritual,  the  sur- 
plice, the  cross  in  baptism,  the  ring  in  marriage,  as 
not  only  Popish  but  as  idolatrous.  And  further,  and 
this  is  what  had  weight  with  Elizabeth,  he  advocated 
the  doing  away  with  bishops  and  putting  all  power  in 
the  hands  of  the  presbyters.  He  claimed  that  the 
Bible  decreed  that  they  should  rule  both  Church  and 
State. 

Cartwright  organized  his  system  among  the  people 
of  Warwick.  There  was  a  general  gathering  for  all 
clergy  and  a  Synod  for  each  diocese.  The  movement 
was  suppressed  but  not  until  it  had  gained  great  power 
in  Parliament  and  had  brought  about  civil  war.  In 
the  chaotic  condition  of  the  Church  and  State,  separa- 
tion took  place  and  in  the  Act  of  Toleration,  1688, 
their  life  as  a  separate  organization  was  recognized. 

(2)  Congrcgationalist. —  In  1581  Robert  Browne, 
an  enthusiastic  and  gifted  preacher,  opposed  the  neces- 
sity of  having  the  bishop's  permission  to  preach.     He 


THE    REFORMATION  135 

claimed  neither  Pope,  bishop  nor  presbyter  had  any 
power,  but  the  whole  congregation.  Browne  founded 
congregations  of  his  own  which  only  lasted  for  a  short 
time.  He,  however,  unstable  and  greatly  afraid  of  suf- 
fering, conformed  to  the  State  Church  before  he  died. 
His  ideas  had  a  wide  influence.  In  1592  there  were 
twenty  thousand  Brownists  in  England.  They  were 
persecuted  and  fled  to  Holland. 

It  was  left  for  John  Robinson  to  develop  Brownism 
into  Congregationalism.  Driven  out  with  his  congre- 
gation in  1608  he  found  refuge  in  Amsterdam.  Later 
this  party  was  known  as  Independents ;  they  claimed 
the  "  right  to  self-administration  and  self-government 
by  the  common  and  free  consent  of  the  people  inde- 
pendently and  immediately  under  Christ."  In  1620 
they  sought  a  home  in  New  England  where  they 
were  free  to  carry  out  their  ideas. 

(3)  Baptists. — Of  the  Independents  a  small  part 
drifted  into  greater  differences  with  the  established 
Church  and  the  Congregational  movements.  They  as- 
serted that  unconscious  children  could  not  have  part 
in  the  redeemed  humanity.  As  a  symbol,  baptism 
could  only  belong  to  adults.  Thus  they  became 
known  as  Baptists. 

(4)  Quakers. — In  1650  appeared  the  sect  known  as 
Quakers.     The  founder  of  the  sect  was  George  Fox, 


136  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

According  to  Fox's  own  account,  "  This  was  Justice 
Bennet  of  Derby,  who  was  the  first  that  called  us 
Quakers  because  I  bade  him  tremble  at  the  work  of 
the  Lord."  The  name  has  been  commonly  explained 
from  the  Quaker's  agitation  when  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Fox  was  brought  to  London  and  examined 
before  Cromwell  who  quickly  saw  that  there  was 
nothing  in  Quakers  to  excite  his  apprehension,  and  pro- 
nounced the  doctrine  and  its  founder  to  be  irreproach- 
able. The  tenets  of  their  faith  opposed  an  educated 
ministry  as  unscriptural  and  an  injury  to  the  Church. 
They  hated  war,  objected  to  oaths,  did  away  with  sac- 
raments, and  upheld  the  individual  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  They  were  always  noted  for  their  per- 
sonal piety. 

If  we  notice  carefully  there  is  no  disagreement  on 
the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity,  God,  Christ 
and  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  disagreement  and  separa- 
tion was  occasioned  by  the  desire  of  the  Established 
Church  for  uniformity  and  the  desire  of  those  who 
separated  for  religious  freedom.  Were  not  both 
wrong  ? 

During  these  great  struggles,  the  actors  saw  little 
of  the  real  significance,  we  can  see  that  all  the  con- 
fusion under  God's  guidance  ministered  to  a  higher 
order,  an  order  where  true  Christianity  will  depend 


THE    REFORMATION  137 

not  on  uniformity  in  outward  things,  but  on  the  in- 
ward spirit  and  devotion  to  Christ. 

36.  Translations  of  the  Bible. 

During  this  time  two  translations  of  the  Bible  had 
been  made.  One  the  Geneva  Bible,  and  the  other  the 
Bishops'  Bible,  a  translation  under  the  direction  of 
Archbishop  Parker  and  published  in  1568.  In  161 1 
was  published  the  version  still  in  use  and  known  as 
the  King  James'  version.  James  saw  clearly  that  a 
new  translation  would  add  to  the  glory  of  his  reign. 
Forty-six  scholars  were  selected,  some  from  each  of 
the  Universities,  and  from  the  Clergy  of  all  schools  of 
thought.  These  were  divided  into  companies  who 
met  separately.  Each  scholar  translated  a  chapter 
and  then  it  was  handed  on  for  final  revision  to  the 
other  companies  in  turn.  No  pains  were  spared  by 
the  translators  and  the  general  acceptance  of  their 
work  has  proved  that  it  was  the  greatest  translation 
of  English  literature. 

37.  The  Age  of  Reason. 

It  was  natural  that  all  these  religious  wars  and 
persecutions  and  debates  should  be  followed  by  dis- 
gust with  religion  in  general.  In  the  midst  of  the 
religious  discussions,  arose  the  movement  of  science. 
If  the  Puritans  had  won  the  right  to  read  the 
Bible  and  think   for  themselves  on   what  they  read, 


138  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

they  won  also  the  right  for  all  men  to  think 
freely. 

While  the  persecutions  and  debates  were  in  prog- 
ress, men  began  to  observe  the  world  about  them  and 
write  and  publish  what  they  saw.  No  longer  did  the 
Church  absorb  the  intellectual  energy  of  the  world. 
In  this  connection  we  should  remember  the  name  of 
Francis  Bacon  who  transformed  the  methods  of  get- 
ting knowledge  and  instead  of  turning  constantly  to 
the  past,  looked  on  the  present  and  by  observation 
and  comparison  and  experiment,  made  a  new  study  of 
politics,  man  and  nature.  In  these  days  Gilbert  dis- 
covered the  magnetic  nature  of  the  earth,  Harvey 
the  circulation  of  the  blood,  Newton  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation. Philosophy  became  more  free  and  conse- 
quently more  varied.  Hobbes,  Locke  and  Hume  are 
names  to  be  remembered. 

Such  movements  were  bound  to  effect  Christianity. 
Its  traditions  were  examined  from  the  stand  of  nature 
and  reason.  The  idea  of  a  revealed  religion  was  cast 
aside,  and  in  its  place  an  attempt  was  made  to  substi- 
tute a  religion  of  nature  which  considered  God,  im- 
mortality and  virtue.  There  were  many  men  who 
stood  against  this  utter  dethronement  of  Christ. 
Among  these  we  should  especially  remember  Bishop 
Butler    who    in    his    efforts    wrote    a   famous    book 


THE    REFORMATION  139 

entitled  "  The  Analogy  of  Religion,  Natural  and 
Revealed." 

But  the  movement  could  not  be  checked.  It  was 
the  natural  result  of  the  freedom  to  think  and  to  read, 
and  the  reaction  against  Puritanism.  All  over  Eng- 
land and  Europe  it  spread,  carrying  with  it  scepticism 
and  immoral  living. 

The  result  is  seen  in  its  most  terrible  aspect  in 
France,  in  the  Great  Revolution  of  1789.  There  the 
people  oppressed  by  King  Louis  XVI  and  the  nobil- 
ity, rose  in  their  might  and  took  possession  of  the 
land.  The  king  was  executed  and  the  nobility  driven 
out  of  the  country.  Then,  lacking  the  Religion  of 
Christianity,  and  beheving  only  in  reason,  the  Reign 
of  Terror  began  which  soils  the  pages  of  history. 
Everything  was  changed,  a  new  calendar  instituted 
which  made  that  year,  the  year  One,  placed  ten  days 
in  each  week  instead  of  seven  and  in  the  ancient 
cathedral  of  Notre  Dame  in  Paris  enthroned  a  beauti- 
ful but  wicked  woman  as  the  "  Goddess  of  Reason." 
All  who  did  not  agree  were  imprisoned  and  sent  to 
the  guillotine.  The  prisons  were  filled,  while  robbery 
and  crime  were  everywhere.  The  French  Revolution 
was  the  last  struggle  in  the  Reformation. 

So  closed  the  age  preceding  our  own.  An  age  in 
which    Christianity   was    misunderstood,   the    people 


I40  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

misguided  and  a  controling  influence  lacking.  In  the 
Middle  Ages  too,  Christianity  was  misunderstood  and 
the  people  misdirected,  but  to  a  degree  the  Papacy 
kept  a  control  of  men  which  was  totally  lost  in  the 
Reformation.  It  was  left  for  our  age  to  give  a  new 
and  truer  interpretation  to  the  great  Christian  religion, 
and  take  a  step  forward  in  making  it  the  greatest 
power  in  the  life  of  society. 


DIVISION  FOUR 

THE    NEW    LIGHT 

38.  Methodism  and  John  Wesley  (1703-1791). 

When  the  nineteenth  century  dawned  there  was 
present  within  the  Church  of  England,  a  type  of 
Christianity  known  as  Methodism  which  was  the  in- 
troduction to  the  revival  of  Christianity. 

In  the  town  of  Epworth,  England,  was  born  John 
Wesley  in  1703.  He  was  the  son  of  the  parish  priest 
and  received  his  first  steps  in  education  from  a  strict 
but  loving  mother.  He  was  graduated  from  Oxford 
in  1726  and  was  made  a  priest  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. He  had  a  brother  Charles  who  was  deeply 
religious  and  who  organized  a  society  among  his  fel- 
lows which  met  every  night  for  mutual  improvement 
and  religious  devotion,  and  who  spent  their  spare  time 
during  the  day  in  giving  religious  instructions  in  the 
charity  schools,  jails  and  workhouses ;  and  by  their 
life  and  conversation  endeavored  to  influence  for  good 
those  who  had  unhappily  caught  the  materialistic 
spirit. 

John  became  leader  of  this  Guild  or  "  Holy  Club" 
141 


142  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

as  it  was  called.  They  were  very  systematic  in  their 
religious  life,  following  the  Prayer  Book  by  fasting  on 
all  the  appointed  days,  and  receiving  the  Holy  Com- 
munion on  every  Sunday  and  Holy  Day.  They  also 
denied  themselves  all  luxury  and  amusement  that  they 
might  save  money  for  benevolent  deeds.  So  much 
method  in  religion  gave  them  the  name  :  "  Metho- 
dists." 

In  1735  they  came  to  Georgia,  America,  as  mission- 
aries, but  soon  returned  disappointed  in  their  work. 
On  board  ship  they  met  some  people  who  called 
themselves  Moravians  and  whose  special  religious  be- 
lief was  Conversion,  i.  e.,  that  each  believer  ought  to 
be  able  to  point  to  some  definite  time  and  place  when 
and  where  he  received  assurance  of  God's  pardon  and 
salvation.  It  all  appealed  to  Wesley  who  felt  that  he 
had  never  been  converted.  After  much  earnest  devo- 
tion he  tells  us  that  on  May  24,  1738,  the  conversion 
came  ;  he  trusted  Christ  and  became  assured  that  his 
sins  were  taken  away.  After  his  conversion  he  began 
the  life  of  a  traveling  preacher.  The  pulpits  of  the 
churches  were  freely  opened  to  him,  and  he  had  great 
success  in  arousing  the  spiritual  life  of  the  people. 
His  message  was,  that  only  the  soul  of  man  can  know 
God,  and  that  when  the  soul  truly  opens  its  windows 
the  Holy  Spirit  enters  and  possesses  it 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  143 

Wesley  was  soon  joined  by  George  Whitefield  and 
together  they  held  meetings  in  the  open  fields,  some- 
times before  large  audiences  of  twenty  thousand  peo- 
ple. Together  they  effected  men  in  a  most  mysterious 
way,  causing  strong  men  to  cry  and  shout.  Benjamin 
Franklin  thus  describes  one  of  Whitefield's  charity 
sermons  :  "  As  he  proceeded,  I  began  to  soften  and 
concluded  to  give  some  copper  ;  and  then  a  stroke  of 
his  oratory  made  me  ashamed  of  that,  and  determined 
me  to  give  the  silver,  and  he  finished  so  admirably 
that  I  emptied  my  pockets  wholly  in  the  collector's 
dish,  gold  and  all." 

Wesley  was  a  great  preacher,  but  a  still  greater  or- 
ganizer. While  he  desired  to  remain  true  to  the 
English  Church,  yet  he  was  impatient  and  appointed 
lay  preachers  not  waiting  for  the  Bishop's  consent. 
He  organized  preaching  circuits  in  every  part  of 
England  and  Wales,  and  opened  "  mission  halls  "  in 
the  cities.  Wesley's  enthusiasm  and  earnestness  made 
him  welcome  among  the  people,  especially  in  those 
parishes  where  the  priests  were  lax,  and  soon  the 
people  considered  the  work  of  Wesley  as  valid  and 
truly  authorized  as  if  it  had  received  the  sanction  of 
the  Bishop.  This  aroused  the  Church  and  in  some 
places  the  priest  refused  to  administer  the  Holy  Com- 
munion to    followers    of  Wesley.     That  his  workers 


144  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

should  always  receive  at  the  Church  was  one  of  Wes- 
ley's strong  points,  and  this  refusal  on  the  part  of  the 
Established  Church,  hastened  a  desire  for  division 
which  Wesley  himself  opposed  ; — he  did  not  want  a 
separate  organization,  he  wanted  to  aid  and  uplift  the 
Church  by  his  work.  Just  before  his  death  he  said  : 
"  I  hold  all  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England,  I 
love  her  Liturgy,  and  approve  her  plan  of  discipHne, 
and  only  wish  it  could  be  carried  out." 

After  Wesley's  death,  for  a  time  his  wishes  were 
carried  out  and  as  late  as  1793  the  '•  conference"  de- 
clared :  "  We  are  determined  in  a  body  to  remain  in 
the  Church  of  England." 

The  direct  result  of  the  Methodist  revival  was  the 
great  emphasis  placed  on  preaching.  The  clergy 
turned  over  a  new  leaf  and  began  to  preach  the  Gospel 
to  men  and  women  who  were  neglecting  their  souls' 
health,  and  were  unconscious  of  the  need  of  Christ. 
Before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  whole 
army  of  sincere  and  earnest  men  were  engaged  in  re- 
claiming all  ranks  of  men  from  the  depths  of  sin  into 
which  they  had  sunk. 

While  this  movement  was  going  on  among  the 
middle  class,  there  was  a  similar  movement  away  from 
reason  and  natural  religion  back  towards  belief  in  the 
near  relation  of  man's  soul  to  God,  among  the  intel- 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  145 

lectual    class.     This    was  led   by  a   German   philoso- 
pher. 

39.  Immanuel  Kant  (1724-1804),  the  most  influen- 
tial philosopher  of  modern  times. 

He  was  the  son  of  a  saddler  of  Scotch  descent. 
Educated  in  Germany  he  took  his  degrees  and  became 
professor  of  logic  at  Konigsburg.  His  private  life 
was  most  uneventful.  As  Socrates  could  hardly  be 
induced  to  go  beyond  the  walls  of  Athens,  so  Kant 
never  left  the  city  of  his  birth  during  the  thirty  years 
of  his  professorship.  He  was  so  regular  in  his  habits 
of  study  and  exercise  that  it  is  said  people  set  their 
clocks  by  his  movements.  Kant  was  a  man  of  un- 
questionable devotion  to  truth,  severe  in  his  moral 
principles,  he  was  kindly  and  courteous  in  manner,  a 
bold  and  fearless  advocate  of  political  liberty  and  a 
firm  believer  in  human  progress. 

His  right  to  a  position  in  a  history  of  Christianity, 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  made  men  find  God  within 
them,  within  their  moral  beings  and  not  in  nature  or 
reason.  He  said  that  the  pure  reason  took  away 
God,  but  the  practical  reason  could  not  exist  without 
him.  Kant  had  no  place  for  a  revealed  Christianity 
through  Jesus  Christ,  he  saw  only  a  great  moral 
system  with  God  at  the  centre. 

While  Wesley  was  making  the  common  men  look 


146  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

within  and  recognize  an  indwelling  spirit  which  mani- 
fested itself  by  emotions,  Kant  was  making  the  schol- 
arly man  look  within  and  recognize  a  moral  demand 
which  must  manifest  itself  by  virtuous  living. 

They  each  prepared  Christian  men  for  the  next 
great  step  in  the  progress  of  Christianity. 

40.  Friedrich  Schleiermacher  (1768-1834). 

A  moulder  of  our  present  theological  ideas  of 
Christianity  was  a  German,  Friedrich  Schleiermacher, 
(Schlei-er-mar-ker)  1768-1834.  His  boyhood  was 
spent  in  a  Moravian  school  where  he  was  deeply  in- 
fluenced by  religion.  Graduating  from  the  University 
of  Halle,  for  a  time  he  became  a  teacher,  but  later  a 
clergyman.  He  soon  began  to  publish  discourses  on 
religion,  which  served  to  arouse  Germany  as  Wesley 
had  aroused  England.  Later  he  became  professor  of 
theology  and  philosophy  and  to  his  death  took  the 
lead  in  the  religious  movements  of  his  time.  Schlei- 
ermacher took  his  stand  on  religion,  as  the  great  ne- 
cessity of  man,  and  he  saved  it  from  its  friends  and 
enemies.  He  asserted  that  religion  was  not  thought, 
or  evolution,  or  reason,  and  while  it  may  include  all 
these  departments  of  personal  life  it  is  simply  :  the 
feeling  of  man's  dependence  on  God,  the  deepest  in- 
stinct of  man,  which  arises  from  the  endowment  of 
humanity  with    God's    image.     In    contrast   with   all 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  I47 

medieval  theology,  Schleiermacher  asserted  that  God 
lives  in  the  world,  and  has  a  living  relationship  with 
humanity.  Here  is  where  Jesus  Christ  has  a  preemi- 
nent position,  for  the  living  relationship  is  not  de- 
pendent on  a  Christ  of  time  and  place,  but  on  the 
eternal  Christ  who  has  forever  lived  and  dwelt  with 
God,  and  who  holds  continual  relationship  with  the 
human  spirit.  Thus  is  sin  overcome  and  by  entering 
into  Christ  and  through  Christ  into  the  divine  life, 
man  attains  union  and  reconciliation  with  God. 

Schleiermacher  asserted  three  important  theological 
positions  which  we  should  remember  and  understand 
in  so  far  as  possible,  (i)  That  life  was  not  a  period 
of  probation,  but  a  period  of  divine  education.  All 
history  from  Abraham  to  the  present  day  is  one  great 
chain  of  events  by  which  God  instructs  man,  raising 
his  life  and  giving  little  by  little,  His  divine  powers. 
The  individual  life  is  a  life  to  be  spent  under  God's  in- 
struction that  it  may  aid  in  the  great  progress  of  the 
divine  life.  This  was  quite  different  from  the  old  idea 
that  God  put  man  in  the  world  to  see  how  well  he 
could  do  and  then  saved  or  condemned  him  according 
as  he  succeeded  or  failed. 

(2)  The  Holy  Bible  was  an  account  of  progress- 
ive revelation.  By  progressive  revelation  is  meant 
that  the  earlier  portion  may  not  be  in  harmony  with 


148  THE    HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

the  later ;  that  the  later  and  higher  truth  may  con- 
tradict the  earlier  and  lower.  The  men  of  reason  had 
repelled  the  Bible  because  it  was  not  consistent  and 
appeared  to  sanction  what  was  not  right.  Schleier- 
macher  said  that  they  were  wrong  and  that  they  mis- 
understood the  Bible  and  that  it  would  be  an  incom- 
plete revelation  if  it  did  not  tell  of  the  childish  faith  of 
Abraham  and  the  more  perfect  faith  of  Paul.  Schleier- 
macher  showed  how  the  Bible  was  a  wonderful  book 
for  it  was  the  witness  of  God's  divine  instruction  of 
the  great  world. 

(3)  The  Church  as  an  institution  is  vitally  con- 
nected with  the  well-being  of  man.  To  the  Church 
as  an  organized  institution  of  men  who  follow  Christ, 
Schleiermacher  assigned  the  highest  significance. 
Salvation  was  not  an  individual  process,  but  was  ac- 
complished only  through  the  fellowship  of  the  Chris- 
tians. The  spirit  draws  men  closely  together,  and 
thereby  man  is  exalted  by  his  membership  in  an  in- 
stitution where  Christ  is  the  head.  To  the  Church  is 
committed  the  work  of  educating  humanity  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  to  preserve  and  ex- 
tend Christianity  until  the  Kingdom  comes,  and 
Christ's  prayer  is  fulfilled.  Therefore  its  institutions, 
its  meetings  and  sacraments  possess  a  sacred  and 
building  character,  essential  to  the  well-being  of  society. 


THE   NEW    LIGHT  149 

Schleiermacher  affected  Christianity  profoundly  and 
he  still  utters  the  truth  to  which  all  that  is  highest  in 
Christianity  responds.  In  Germany  all  great  theolo- 
gians are  his  disciples  ;  in  England  every  student  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously  is  his  follower,  and  even  the 
Roman  Church  has  caught  his  spirit  and  been  affected 
by  it. 

Thus  began  the  nineteenth  century,  the  century  of 
a  new  light  in  Christianity.  With  the  assurance  of  the 
Love  of  God  in  the  world,  with  the  conviction  that 
His  great  plan  was  to  be  victorious  and  a  blessing 
in  the  end,  with  the  victory  of  freedom  that  had 
been  won,  freedom  to  read,  and  think  and  express 
one's  thoughts,  men  and  women  found  life  a  great, 
joyous,  earnest  task  just  what  God  meant  it  should 
be. 

41.  The  Oxford  Movement. 

In  the  midst  of  this  new  life  were  many  who  were 
tired  of  the  confusion  of  sects,  and  the  freedom  of  ex- 
pression. So  many  varying  ideas  were  presented,  that 
a  man  could  not  tell  exactly  what  he  believed.  These 
sighed  for  the  days  of  faith  when  there  was  but  one 
Church  and  one  belief.  Some  felt  that  there  was  but 
one  remedy  for  division  and  that  was  to  restore  the 
Church  to  its  old  supremacy  over  the  life  of  men. 
This  movement  in  the  Roman  Church  gave  rise  to  the 


150  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

reestablishment  of  the  Jesuit  Order  which  had  been 
dissolved. 

In  the  EngHsh  Church  this  tendency  crystalHzed  in 
the  Oxford  Movement.  At  the  University  of  Oxford 
a  band  of  students  was  formed  who  believed  in  the 
Church  as  the  seat  of  authority  and  who  wished  to 
impress  it  on  the  people.  These  men  liked  elaborate 
ritual,  gorgeous  vestments  and  much  ceremony  in 
worship.  They  circulated  a  lot  of  literature  setting 
forward  their  ideas  called  "  The  Tracts  of  the  Times," 
and  because  of  this  the  men  have  been  called  "  Trac- 
tarians."  Prominent  among  these  men  were  Edward 
Pusey,  John  Keble,  Edward  Manning  and  John  Henry 
Newman. 

The  two  men  last  named  were  so  desirous  for  au- 
thority that  they  left  the  English  Church  and  entered 
the  Roman  Catholic.  These  men  have  always  been 
known  as  High  Churchmen,  because  they  had  great 
respect  for  the  Church  and  her  ceremonial.  Opposed 
to  these  were  Professor  Maurice,  Dean  Stanley  and 
Canon  Kingsley,  who  sought  to  enthrone  Christ  in  the 
hearts  of  men  by  a  plain  service  and  less  ceremonial; 
these  were  called  "Broad  Churchmen." 

Both  kinds  of  churchmen  are  necessary  for  they 
represent  two  kinds  of  character  :  one  makes  much  of 
the  organization,  the  other  of  the  spirit  within  the 


THE   NEW    LIGHT  1 5  I 

organization.  Each  is  necessary  because  both  the 
organization  and  spirit  are  necessary.  But  the  man 
who  serves  the  organization  must  not  neglect  the 
spirit,  and  the  man  who  serves  the  spirit  must  not 
neglect  the  organization. 

42.  Sunday-schools. 

These  were  originated  about  1780  by  Robert  Raikes, 
a  printer  in  Gloucester,  England.  Up  to  this  time  the 
children  had  been  privately  taught  their  catechism  at 
home,  and  publicly  catechized  in  church  occasion- 
ally. 

On  investigation  in  the  suburbs  of  Gloucester,  Mr, 
Raikes  was  informed  that  "  on  Sunday  the  streets 
were  filled  with  a  multitude  of  wretches,  who  having 
no  employment  on  that  day  spent  their  time  in  noise 
and  riot."  To  check  this  among  the  children  he 
organized  a  school  to  teach  reading  and  the  Church 
Catechism  to  as  many'  children  as  he  could  send. 
The  idea  successfully  carried  out  by  Mr.  Raikes  was 
soon  introduced  everywhere.  Such  was  the  origin  of 
the  Sunday-school. 

We  must  remember  that  it  came  into  existence 
when  parents  ceased  to  teach  the  essentials  of  religion 
to  their  children.  The  true  place  for  religious  in- 
struction to  children  is  the  home,  the  true  teachers 
are  the  mothers  and  fathers  aided  by  the  ministers. 


152  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

43.  Public  Education. 

One  of  the  greatest  results  of  Christianity  is  Public 
Education.  Every  Christian  land  to-day  requires  that 
its  boys  and  girls  attend  school.  This  is  the  recog- 
nition of  what  Christ  taught,  that  under  every  coat,  be 
it  the  soiled  coat  of  the  newsboy,  or  the  plush  coat  of 
the  millionaire's  son,  is  a  living  soul,  a  being  that  has 
unknown  possibilities  of  development,  therefore  the 
democratic  Christian  State  says  that  each  boy  and 
girl  is  entitled  to  the  best  possible  start  towards  the 
attainment  of  the  fullest  manhood  and  womanhood. 
Education  should  bring  the  conviction  that  life  is 
progress  and  that  progress  in  the  individual  means 
progress  in  the  nation. 

44.  Christian  Heroes  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

Thus  we  arrive  at  our  own  Age.  And  the  ques- 
tion is :  What  is  the  Christianity  of  the  nineteenth 
century  ?  We  are  too  near  to  judge  the  value  or  the 
lasting  qualities  of  certain  lines  of  Christian  thought, 
those  can  only  be  explained  when  distance  gives  per- 
spective. What  we  can  do,  is  to  study  the  lives  of  some 
of  the  great  men  of  our  age,  who,  animated  by  Chris- 
tianity have  enriched  the  world  by  deeds  and  thoughts 
and  should  therefore  stand  before  us  as  examples. 

45.  David  Livingstone  and  Missions. 
Immediately  following  the  Reformation,  the  Protes- 


THE    NEW   LIGHT  153 

tant  Churches  did  Httle  towards  sending  the  Gospel 
to  foreign  lands.  The  missionary  zeal,  which  was  so 
prominent  in  the  early  days,  was  lost  in  the  discussions 
and  religious  wars.  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  missionary  work  was  renewed.  Societies 
were  formed  and  missionaries  sent  in  all  directions,  to 
China,  Japan,  Africa  and  the  islands  of  the  seas.  The 
first  Christian  hero  of  our  own  time  whom  we  will 
notice  is  David  Livingstone  (i  807-1 873),  a  missionary 
and  explorer. 

Livingstone  was  born  in  Scotland  and  at  ten  years 
of  age  was  an  operator  in  a  cotton  factory.  Six  a,  m. 
found  him  at  the  loom,  and  at  six  p.  m.  he  was  still 
there.  Thirsty  for  education,  his  first  half  crown 
purchased  a  latin  grammar.  Ai:  soon  as  possible  he 
left  the  factory  and  went  to  Glasgow  University.  He 
hired  a  garret,  cooked  his  own  food  while  he  studied 
incessantly.  The  Classics  prepared  him  for  his  study 
of  the  African  languages,  and  science  for  his  task  of 
exploration.  After  a  course  in  medicine  which  gave 
him  skill  in  surgery  and  made  him  known  in  Africa  as 
a  divine  healer,  he  heard  some  theological  lectures 
and  was  then  ordained  to  the  ministry  and  offered 
himself  to  the  London  Missionary  Society  as  a  mis- 
sionary. He  was  immediately  sent  to  Africa,  the 
Dark   Continent,   where    from  a   mountain-top    on  a 


154  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

clear  morning,  might  be  seen  smoke  rising  from  one 
thousand  villages  in  which  no  white  man  had  ever 
stood. 

The  parting  between  the  man  and  his  family  was 
characteristic.  His  plans  having  been  made,  he  could 
not  start  too  soon.  Going  to  his  home  for  the  last 
night  before  he  sailed,  he  sat  with  his  family  long  into 
the  night  and  talked  of  the  dangers  and  possibiHties ; 
then  together  they  read  the  ninety-first  Psalm  :  "  Thou 
shalt  not  be  afraid  of  any  terror  by  night,  nor  for  the 
arrow  that  flieth  by  day,  nor  for  the  pestilence  that 
walketh  in  darkness,  nor  for  the  sickness  that  destroy- 
eth  in  the  noonday."  Then  in  one  earnest  prayer,  his 
father  commended  him  to  the  care  of  God. 

Landing  at  the  Cape  he  mastered  the  people's  lan- 
guage in  seven  months.  Then  he  began  his  march 
across  the  continent.  With  no  guide  but  his  com- 
pass, he  left  Zambesi  on  the  eastern  coast  and  plunged 
into  the  forest.  Through  reeking  soil,  and  thorns 
and  briers,  in  the  face  of  dangers,  because  of  serpents 
and  lions,  with  no  food  but  that  which  his  gun  pro- 
vided, he  went  on  day  after  day.  Nearly  two  years 
were  consumed,  and  the  last  three  hundred  miles  he 
was  so  ill  that  he  was  carried  tied  to  the  back  of  an 
ox.  Little  can  we  imagine  his  joy  when  he  reached 
the    Congo    River   and    made  his    way    to    the   sea. 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  155 

There  he  refused  a  trip  to  England  in  a  vessel  which 
was  about  to  sail,  because  he  had  promised  his  native 
helpers  that  if  they  would  go  with  him,  he  would 
return  them  to  their  friends  safe  and  sound.  Back- 
wards over  the  continent  he  retraced  his  steps,  teach- 
ing the  black  men  that  his  word  was  good. 

This  geographical  feat  became  the  means  for  fur- 
thering missionary  enterprise.  Returning  to  Eng- 
land, he  was  received  as  a  hero.  He  published  the 
account  of  his  travels  and  discoveries  and  thereby 
raised  money  with  which  he  returned  to  Africa. 

During  his  second  journey  he  made  a  circle  of  one 
thousand  miles  and  collected  facts  that  secured  inter- 
ference with  the  slave  trade  which  was  carried  on  by 
the  Portuguese  in  a  most  inhuman  way.  On  this  ex- 
pedition he  discovered  the  key  to  the  River  system  of 
Africa.  Between  his  second  and  third  expeditions, 
Mrs.  Livingstone  died.  Broken  hearted,  Mr.  Living- 
stone went  to  England,  arranged  for  his  son's  future, 
and  returned  to  Africa  to  continue  his  investigation 
against  the  slave  trade  and  follow  out  the  clew,  found 
in  the  second  journey,  to  the  source  of  the  Nile. 

Twenty-five  years  of  exposure  had  worn  on  him, 
making  him  less  able  to  bear  the  privations  of  the  for- 
est. It  was  on  this  expedition  that  Henry  M.  Stanley 
was  sent  to  find  Livingstone.     Weak  and  sick,  with 


156  THE   HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

provisions  gone,  in  great  danger  because  of  the  decep- 
tion of  natives,  at  last,  Stanley  found  him.  For  four 
months  they  labored  together.  Then  Stanley  urged 
Livingstone  to  return  with  him.  True  to  his  purpose 
to  the  very  end,  he  refused.  Weak  and  sick  he 
traveled  on,  gaining  information  which  made  Africa 
an  open  and  known  country,  until  one  night,  his  faith- 
ful attendant  entered  his  tent  and  found  him  dead. 
While  kneeling  in  prayer  with  his  head  on  his  pillow, 
God  had  called  him.  The  natives  carried  his  body  to 
the  coast  and  it  was  buried  in  the  Nave  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  London.  Livingstone  after  his  first  great 
journey  in  Africa  could  have  lived  in  ease  in  England. 
Hundreds  of  positions  were  open  to  him,  but  he  re- 
fused the  easy  task  and  took  the  harder,  obeying  the 
African  call  and  giving  his  life  to  that  service. 

Livingstone  was  a  man  who  made  his  Christianity 
practical.  Stanley  said  of  him  :  "  His  gentleness  never 
forsakes  him,  his  hopefulness  never  deserts.  No  harass- 
ing anxiety  can  make  him  complain.  To  stern  dic- 
tates of  duty  alone  has  he  sacrificed  home  and  ease, 
the  pleasures,  refinements  and  luxuries  of  civilized  life. 
His  is  the  Spartan  heroism,  the  inflexibility  of  the 
Roman,  the  enduring  resolution  of  the  Anglo-Saxon, 
never  to  surrender  his  obligation  until  he  can  write 
'  finis '  to  his  work.     His  religion  made  him  the  most 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  157 

companionable  of  men  and  indulgent  of  masters.  Each 
Sunday  morning  he  gathered  his  little  flock  about  him, 
and  read  the  prayers  and  a  chapter  from  the  Bible  and 
delivered  a  short  address  in  a  natural,  unaffected  and 
sincere  tone." 

And  the  religious  life  he  taught  was  practical. 
The  black  men  under  his  guidance  irrigated  their  land, 
built  houses,  developed  vineyards  and  stock  farms. 
His  example  of  serving  others  was  contagious,  and  to 
the  natives,  Christianity  became  primarily  a  religion  of 
service. 

46.  Lord  Shaftesbury.  (Anthony  Ashley  Cooper, 
1801-1885.) 

In  the  middle  ages  we  watched  the  Christianity  of 
the  clergy,  in  the  nineteenth  century  we  look  to  the 
laity  for  evidences  of  Christianity.  This  means  that 
Christianity  has  come  out  of  the  monastery  and  the 
Church  and  is  making  its  way  among  men. 

In  the  life  of  Lord  Shaftesbury  we  come  into  the 
presence  of  a  great  Christian  layman,  we  see  here  how 
one  does  not  need  to  be  a  clergyman  in  order  to  save 
souls  and  bodies.  Lord  Shaftesbury  was  born  in  a 
family  of  the  highest  rank  and  greatest  wealth  of 
England.  He  was  the  seventh  earl  of  Shaftesbury. 
After  the  course  of  the  wealthy  English  boy,  he  at- 
tended Harrow  and  Oxford,  enjoyed  years  of  travel  in 


158  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

which  all  narrowness  and  prejudice  were  expelled,  and 
at  twenty-five  he  took  his  seat  in  Parliament. 

For  more  than  forty  years,  when  Parliament  rose  at 
midnight  and  all  its  members  went  home,  Shaftesbury 
went  into  the  byways  and  hedges  to  search  for  those 
of  whom  Christ  said :  "  In  as  much  as  ye  have  done  it 
unto  the  least  of  these,  My  brethren,  ye  have  done  it 
unto  Me."  A  member  of  the  cabinet  tells  how  on  a 
wintry  night  he  sat  with  Shaftesbury  beside  his  fire- 
place watching  the  sparks  and  flames  fly  up  the  chim- 
ney. Within,  all  was  comfort  and  beauty  and  happi- 
ness, without  sleet  and  wind  beat  upon  the  window. 
At  ten  o'clock  Shaftesbury  excused  himself  and  went 
out  into  the  night  to  search  for  the  lost  and  the  fallen. 
Going  to  the  ends  of  London  Bridge,  there  in  the 
shelter  he  would  find  twenty  or  thirty  men  and  women 
huddled  together.  These  he  would  carry  to  a  shelter 
in  the  East  End  of  London,  and  there  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, he  would  provide  fire  and  food  and  comfort. 
We  must  remember  Shaftesbury  as  a  great  Christian 
philanthropist. 

For  ten  years  he  gave  his  Sunday  afternoons  to  the 
exploration  of  the  lanes  and  alleys  of  London.  He 
reported  to  Parliament,  and  reminded  them  that  one- 
fourth  of  London's  population  were  born  in  rooms 
where  "  walls  ooze  grime  and  bricks  sweat  filth,"  that 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  159 

in  some  places  people  were  so  huddled  together,  that  in 
cellars,  four  families  would  occupy  one  room,  with  only 
chalk  lines  on  the  floor  for  divisions.  To  better  this 
condition,  he  interested  Mr.  George  Peabody,  a  Boston 
banker,  and  hundreds  of  old  shackles  were  condemned, 
and  model  lodging  houses  constructed.  In  ten  years 
eighty  thousand  people  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  his 
philanthropy,  while  his  lodging  houses  became  the 
models  for  the  world. 

With  this  movement  he  organized  "  ragged  schools," 
attended  by  ten  thousand  children ;  Sunday-schools, 
night  schools,  industrial  schools,  where  boys  and  girls 
were  taught  not  only  sacred  truths,  but  also  how  to 
make  their  own  clothes,  how  to  weave  door  mats,  how 
to  print  hand  bills,  etc.  His  reform  among  the  coster- 
mongers  will  long  be  remembered.  These  were  men 
and  women  who  led  a  miserable  existence  selling  fish, 
fruit,  old  iron,  etc.  Their  children  inhabited  the 
streets  and  grew  up  into  criminals.  For  them  he 
founded  schools,  while  for  the  parents  he  established 
their  business  on  a  better  basis,  by  systematizing  it 
and  providing  it  with  methods  which  raised  it  to  a 
respectable  livelihood. 

Even  the  donkeys  driven  by  these  poor  people  re- 
ceived his  care.  He  organized  a  humane  society,  and 
gave  an  annual  prize  to  the  one  whose  beast  showed 


l60  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

the  best  care.  One  night  near  the  end  of  his  hfe, 
when  he  was  attending  one  of  the  costermonger  meet- 
ings, a  noble  donkey  groomed  and  decorated  with 
flowers  was  presented  to  him.  In  accepting  this  token 
of  the  people's  esteem  he  said :  "  In  closing  my  long 
life,  I  desire  that  it  only  may  be  said  of  me  that  I 
have  served  men  with  a  patience  and  resignation  like 
unto  this  faithful  beast." 

We  cannot  overestimate  the  courage  and  self-denial 
which  was  in  Shaftesbury's  character.  He  loved 
music  and  literature,  he  enjoyed  the  company  of 
statesmen,  noble  men  and  gracious  women,  his  vast 
ancestral  mansion  with  its  attractive  rooms,  vast 
library  and  atmosphere  of  luxury  and  refinement,  all 
these  he  would  put  aside,  to  spend  days  and  nights 
among  the  dirty  and  poor.  For  fifty  years  the  man 
who  could  have  enjoyed  ease  and  luxury  was  the 
hardest  worked  man  in  Parliament.  One  night 
Shaftesbury  rose  in  Parliament  and  said,  "  My  Lords, 
I  am  now  an  old  man.  When  I  feel  age  creeping  on 
me  I  know  that  I  must  soon  die.  I  am  deeply  grieved, 
for  I  cannot  bear  to  leave  the  world,  with  so  much 
misery  in  it."  That  night,  while  his  daughter  read  the 
twenty-third  Psalm  to  him,  his  spirit  was  called  to  the 
land  where  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears.  Three 
days   later  a  plain  hearse  followed  by  four  carriages 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  l6l 

drove  from  his  home  to  Westminister  Abbey.  Man- 
sions, clubs,  shops,  factories  and  homes  were  closed. 
Thousands  lined  the  streets  and  stood  with  uncovered 
heads  as  the  funeral  procession  passed. 

Next  day  Mr.  Gladstone  rose  in  Parliament  and 
said  :  "  The  safety  of  our  country  is  not  in  laws  or 
legislators,  but  in  Christian  gentlemen  hke  unto 
Shaftesbury." 

47.  William  Ewart  Gladstone  (1809-1898). 

England  can  boast  of  another  great  Christian  hero, 
William  Ewart  Gladstone,  a  statesman,  orator  and 
author,  who  in  each  position  made  men  conscious  of 
the  Christianity  that  governed  his  life.  Born  and 
brought  up  in  .  wealth  and  luxury,  he  graduated  from 
Oxford  in  1831  and,  after  traveling  in  Italy,  in  1832, 
then  only  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  took  a  seat  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  For  over  sixty  years  he 
held  a  place  in  Parliament  and  rose  to  the  position  of 
Prime  Minister.  We  must  remember  his  career  by 
the  Christian  ideals  which  animated  it,  for  his  whole 
life  was  an  attempt  to  reconcile  politics  with  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount.  This  ideal  is  seen  in  his  book 
published  as  early  in  his  career  as  1838  and  entitled, 
"  The  State  in  its  Relations  with  the  Church." 

It  will  be  impossible  to  follow  his  political  career. 
We   will   select   two    great   achievements    in  his  life 


1 62  THE    HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

which  show  us  the  man  of  wealth  and  leisure  inter- 
ested in  the  poor  and  weak. 

First  the  abolition  of  the  corn  laws.  England  was 
a  land  of  great  estates  given  over  to  agriculture.  For 
many  years  there  had  been  a  high  tariff  on  corn,  so  as 
to  compel  English  people  to  buy  the  corn  raised  by 
the  landed  proprietors  in  England.  This  was  protec- 
tion for  the  great  estates,  but  was  hard  for  the  poor 
mechanics  and  people  who  labored  in  factories.  In 
foreign  countries  great  quantities  of  corn  were  being 
raised  and  if  it  could  only  come  into  England  free,  the 
poor  people  would  be  greatly  benefited. 

Gladstone  saw  this  and  brought  the  matter  before 
Parliament.  He  was  violently  opposed  by  those 
wealthy  peers  who  were  land  owners  and  who  raised 
corn.  He,  himself,  was  a  land  owner,  and  in  his  ad- 
vocating free  corn,  was  deliberately  hurting  his  own 
income.  But  still  he  continued  his  course,  feeUng 
that  it  was  wrong  for  English  people  to  suffer  by  pay- 
ing high  prices  when  they  could  get  corn  so  much 
cheaper  from  America. 

In  1849  Gladstone  won,  the  Corn  Law  was  re- 
pealed, and  men  and  women  joined  in  a  great  jubilee 
and  hailed  Mr.  Gladstone  as  their  Protector,  Glad- 
stone felt  that  in  furthering  such  a  cause  he  was  doing 
the  will  of  his  Father  in  heaven. 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  I63 

The  Other  achievement  was  the  release  of  the  poor 
political  prisoners  at  Naples.  In  1830  Francis  II  be- 
came king  of  Naples.  In  order  to  satisfy  a  popular 
demand,  he  called  an  election  and  created  a  repre- 
sentative congress  of  150  men.  When  these  as- 
sembled he  laid  before  them  an  oath  so  unreasonable 
that  they  would  not  take  it.  Immediately  he  dis- 
solved the  congress  and  cast  seventy-six  of  the  one 
hundred  and  fifty  into  prison.  This  was  only  the  be- 
ginning of  political  disturbances.  The  king  became 
an  absolute  monarch,  putting  into  prison  those  who  in 
any  way  opposed  him. 

The  conditions  of  the  prisons  were  terrible.  Noble- 
men were  chained  hand  and  foot,  in  damp  and  dirty 
dungeons,  and  there  left  with  little  food,  to  sicken  and 
die.  This  continued  until  1850  when  Gladstone  was 
taking  a  holiday  in  Naples.  Hearing  of  these  prison- 
ers, and  interested  not  only  in  the  weak  and  oppressed, 
but  also  in  those  who  wanted  the  constitutional  free- 
dom that  Englishmen  enjoyed,  he  investigated  the 
condition  of  these  prisoners,  and  in  pamphlets  and  by 
speeches  so  aroused  the  public  sentiment  of  the  world 
that  the  king  was  obliged  to  defend  himself.  While 
Gladstone  did  not  bring  about  immediately  the  release 
of  the  prisoners,  he  did  aid  the  great  Italian  patriot, 
Garibaldi,  by   encouragement   and   thereby   hastened 


164  THE    HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

the  overthrow  of  the  infamous  government  of  Fran- 
cis II. 

All  the  great  reforms  of  political  life  which  took 
place  in  England  during  the  latter  part  of  this  century- 
were  in  a  large  measure  due  to  Gladstone,  He  was  a 
man  of  untiring  energy,  strong  as  an  oak,  never  idle. 
Each  morning  found  him  attending  Morning  Prayer 
at  his  Castle  chapel,  each  Sunday  found  him  reading 
the  lessons  in  divine  service.  He  was  as  regular  in  the 
fulfilment  of  his  religious  obligations  as  his  political 
obligations,  and  felt  that  only  in  so  far  as  he  faithfully 
fulfilled  the  former  could  he  successfully  fulfil  the 
latter.  His  whole  hfe  was  religious,  and  he  continually 
affirmed  in  Parliament  one  great  message,  which  every 
nation  and  every  citizen  should  take  to  heart,  that 
"  England  could  lead  the  grand  procession  of  nations, 
only  as  she  herself  walked  in  the  path  of  religion  and 
peace  that  Jesus  Christ  had  opened." 

At  an  old  age  he  retired  from  Parliament  and  was 
offered  by  Queen  Victoria  a  title  and  a  seat  in  the 
House  of  Lords.  This  he  respectfully  refused,  pre- 
ferring to  remain  the  great  commoner  he  had  always 
been.  The  last  nine  months  of  his  life  he  suffered 
with  a  terrible  facial  disease  that  gave  him  great  pain. 
As  the  end  came  near,  his  son,  a  priest  in  the 
Church  of  England,  read  the  Litany.     At  the  close 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  I65 

the  white  lips  murmured  "  Amen,"  the  last  words  he 
spoke. 

With  the  news  of  his  death,  universal  grief  settled 
over  the  nations.  Monarchs  sent  condolence  to  his 
family.  Every  one  recognized  that  in  the  death  of  the 
Grand  Old  Man,  humanity  had  lost  a  friend  and  the 
nation  a  Christian  leader. 

48.  Phillips  Brooks  (1835-1892)  Bishop  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

To  Bishop  Brooks  we  give  a  leading  place  among 
the  Christian  heroes  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

We  meet  here  a  man  who  had  an  amazing  influence 
because  of  his  devotion  to  Christ.  His  ability  to  win 
the  love  and  loyalty  of  men  seem  to  result  from  his 
power  to  commune  with  Christ.  Born  in  Boston  in 
1835,  he  was  one  of  six  sons  and  had  for  a  father 
and  mtOther  a  man  and  woman  of  deep  religious 
devotion.  His  home  life  was  full  of  family  feeling. 
They  delighted  to  be  together,  everything  about  the 
home  was  made  so  attractive  that  the  boys  at  all  times 
loved  to  be  there.  Before  the  work  of  the  day  began 
they  gathered  together  for  morning  prayer,  and  in  the 
evening  after  the  reading  and  family  games,  they 
thanked  God  for  His  mercies,  before  they  retired. 

From  the  Unitarian  Church  the  whole  family  turned 
to  the  Episcopal,  and  for  years   filled  to  overflowing 


1 66  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

pew  No.  60  in  old  St.  Paul's  Church  on  Tremont 
Street. 

At  eleven  years  of  age  Phillips  entered  the  Boston 
Latin  School  and  in  the  Spring  of  '55  was  graduated 
from  Harvard  College.  During  September  and  Oc- 
tober of  '56,  this  great  man  had  a  sad  experience,  try- 
ing to  teach  in  the  Boston  Latin  School.  Unable  to 
maintain  order,  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  his  position. 

It  was  a  hard  blow  to  him.  He  longed  to  be  a 
teacher,  but  a  flaming  sword  shut  him  out  of  his  Eden. 
We  to-day  can  but  see  that  God  had  greater  work  for 
him  to  do.  Acting  on  the  advice  of  Dr.  Walker, 
President  of  Harvard,  he  went  to  the  Episcopal  Theo- 
logical seminary  at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  and  there 
began  a  Hfe  of  seclusion  in  which  his  great  soul  and 
mind  took  shape  and  began  to  mature.  Here  he  filled 
note-book  after  note -book  with  his  own  thoughts,  and 
with  the  thoughts  of  those  authors  whom  he  had  read. 
Here  he  gathered  and  stored  away  for  future  use 
many  of  the  wonderful  figures  of  expression,  words 
and  phrases,  which  later  appeared  in  his  preaching. 
In  1859  he  was  ordained  and  became  rector  of  the 
Church  of  the  Advent  in  Philadelphia.  For  ten  years 
he  labored  in  Philadelphia,  at  first  in  the  Church  of 
the  Advent,  later  in  the  Holy  Trinity. 

From    ^e    first    sermon    he   became    noted    as    a 


THE   NEW   LIGHT  1 6/ 

preacher.  In  those  days  there  were  no  guilds  and 
clubs,  and  a  minister  was  expected  to  preach  longer 
sermons  than  to-day.  Mr.  Brooks  entered  upon  this 
life  with  great  delight,  he  prepared  his  sermons,  two 
each  week,  with  great  care,  and  preached  them  on 
Sunday  with  the  fervor  of  a  divine  prophet. 

His  one  great  work  during  the  Philadelphia  resi- 
dence was  his  preaching  against  slavery.  Heartily  in 
sympathy  with  Lincoln,  it  gradually  dawned  upon  him 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Church  and  of  a  Christian 
minister  to  sustain  by  sympathy,  by  act,  and  by  spoken 
word  the  government  of  the  country.  With  fervent 
passion,  one  sermon  followed  another,  and  the  public 
mind  was  stirred.  Not  only  did  he  preach  the  sin  of 
slavery,  but  more  especially  the  sin  of  a  divided  gov- 
ernment. He  urged  his  congregation  to  give  un- 
faltering loyalty  to  the  government  and  recognize  no 
distinction  between  an  open  foe  and  a  secret  enemy. 
When  the  end  came  and  great  Lincoln  lay  dead  in 
Philadelphia,  from  Phillips  Brooks's  pulpit  came  a 
memorial  sermon  which  even  to-day  is  read  and  con- 
sidered the  greatest  memorial  of  America's  greatest 
statesman  and  President. 

In  1869  he  accepted  a  call  to  Trinity  Church,  Bos- 
ton, and  here  began  a  period  of  twenty  years  filled 
with  preaching  that  has  never  been  excelled. 


1 68  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

Here  was  done  the  work  of  his  Hfe.  His  sermons 
in  Trinity  Church  were  as  much  a  part  of  Boston  and 
as  eagerly  sought  by  the  visitors,  as  Kings'  Chapel 
and  the  Old  South  Church.  As  a  preacher  his  fame 
spread  to  foreign  lands  and  when  he  was  in  England 
crowds  thronged  to  hear  him. 

No  one  can  realize  what  a  strain  it  was  to  keep  up 
this  exalted  standard.  No  one  knows  how  he  was 
tempted  to  accept  a  Harvard  professorship  when  it 
was  offered,  but  he  remained  true  to  his  calling,  and 
nourished  with  true  religion  the  crowds  that  each 
Sunday  packed  Trinity  Church  to  its  doors. 

In  April,  1891,  the  Diocesan  Convention  on  the 
first  ballot  elected  Mr.  Brooks  bishop.  Before  the 
election  he  said :  "  Why  should  I  decline,  who  would 
not  accept  such  a  great  opportunity  for  usefulness, 
such  an  enlargement  of  his  ministry."  This  Avas  the 
key-note  of  his  short  term  in  the  Episcopate.  He 
was  untiring  in  his  administration  of  the  diocese, 
watching  every  detail  and  all  the  time  striving  to 
maintain  the  same  standard  of  preaching.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  he  broke  down  and  in  January,  1893,  was 
called  home.  In  his  last  illness  he  is  thus  described : 
"  The  great  bed  was  covered  over  with  books,  books 
new  and  old.  The  whole  city  ready  to  serve  him,  a 
host  of  friends   longing  to  be  with  him,  and  he  was 


THE    NEW    LIGHT  1 69 

alone,  and  had  turned  at  last,  as  he  had  done  through 
all  the  lonely  years,  to  books,  his  best  friends." 

His  funeral  occurred  in  Trinity  Church  and  was  at- 
tended by  the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  the  Mayor  of  Boston  and  delegations 
from  the  Legislature.  When  the  service  was  over  in 
the  Church,  another  service  was  held  without,  for  the 
large  congregation  that  filled  Copley  Square.  He 
was  buried  at  Mount  Auburn  Cemetery  in  Cam- 
bridge. 

In  the  yard  at  Harvard  stands  a  memorial  which 
serves  not  only  to  keep  green  the  memory  of  Bishop 
Brooks,  but  to  perpetuate  his  idea  of  Christianity.  It 
is  a  modest  but  commodious  building  of  brick  and 
stone,  dedicated  to  Piety,  Charity  and  Hospitality,  and 
to  the  memory  of  Bishop  Brooks  by  the  following 
inscription : 

"  A  preacher  of  righteousness  and  hope,  majestic  in 
stature,  impetuous  in  utterance,  rejoicing  in  truth,  un- 
hampered by  bonds  of  Church  or  station,  he  brought 
by  his  life  and  doctrine  fresh  faith  to  a  people,  fresh 
meaning  to  ancient  creeds,  to  this  University  he  gave 
constant  love,  large  service,  high  example."  It  is  the 
home  of  the  religious  life  of  the  great  University. 
Gathering  as  it  does  under  one  roof  all  religious 
bodies,  it  becomes  the  symbol  of  a  great  union  in  the 


I/O  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

future,  of  a  twentieth  century  Christianity  which  will 
centre  around  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  God  and 
Father  of  us  all,  so  that  we  may  be  all  of  one  heart, 
and  of  one  soul  united  in  one  holy  bond  of  truth  and 
peace,  of  faith  and  charity,  and  may  with  one  mind 
and  one  mouth  glorify  Thee,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.     Amen." 


INSTRUCTION  TO  TEACHERS 


1.  General  Directions 

A  teacher  should  recall  in  each  lesson  the  fact  that 
we  are  studying  the  greatest  force  in  all  history,  a 
force  that  has  always  bettered  men,  held  them  in 
check,  created  armies,  made  possible  science,  made 
possible,  in  fact,  all  that  we  have  and  are,  and  all  that 
we  can  hope  for. 

The  questions  given  are  leaders  for  the  scholar's 
study,  topics  around  which  he  can  centre  material. 
Each  teacher  should  look  up  the  lesson  thoroughly, 
not  only  using  the  text,  but  also  turning  to  some  re- 
liable Church  History  or  the  Encyclopaedia.  With  the 
subject  well  in  hand  he  should  make  out  his  own  list 
of  questions,  having  in  mind  the  points  of  the  lesson 
which  will  instruct  and  interest  his  class. 

2.  Classes  where  no  home  work  can  be  secured 

The  amount  of  work  which  can  be  given  by  teach- 
ers and  scholars  to  this  course  is  unlimited;  but  this 
much  can  be  expected  in  schools  where  lessons  are 
not  studied  at  home :  ( i )  a  reading  aloud  around  the 
class  from  the  text  of  the  sections  forming  the  lessons ; 
(2)  oral  discussion  of  answers;  (3)  the  writing  of 
concise  answers  in  a  note-book. 

5.     In  cla>sses  where  outside  work  can  be  secured. 

Every  section  in  this  book  suggests  many  questions. 
To  illustrate:   in  section  two  more  information  on 

171 


172  THE  HISTORY  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Nero  will  naturally  be  desired;  in  section  three,  in- 
formation on  the  history  and  the  form  of  the  Temple, 
etc.,  etc.  No  teacher  should  attempt  to  teach  this 
course  unless  he  is  willing  to  keep  constantly  ahead  of 
his  scholars  and  from  supplementary  reading  select 
topics  for  outside  investigation.  On  Sundays  the  pro- 
gram of  work  in  the  preceding  paragraph  should  be 
used,  and  to  it  should  be  added  the  reports  which  have 
been  worked  up  outside  of  the  school  hour. 

4.  Review  and  Outlines. 

Every  teacher  should  pay  especial  attention  to  the 
making  of  outlines  as  the  study  of  each  division  is 
completed.  These  outlines  should  be  used  in  conduct- 
ing reviews. 

5.  Books  of  Reference. 

Turning  Points  of  Church  History.     Cutts. 
History  of  the  English  People.    Green. 
The  Holy  Roman  Empire.    Bryce. 
Outlines  of  Universal  History.    Fisher. 
Roman  and  Teuton.    Kingsley. 
A  Goodly  Heritage.    Forde. 
How  the  Church  Came  to  England.    Hollis. 
English   Church   History   for   Children.     Two 

volumes.    Illustrated.    Shipley. 
Penny   History  of   the    Church    of    England. 

Jessopp. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1/3 

LESSON  I 

Subject :  Introduction. 
Read  Section  i. 

1.  What  is  the  subject  of  this  course? 

2.  What  must  we  first  understand  ? 

3.  What  prevented  Christianity  from  spreading  ? 

4.  Describe  how  Christianity  was  promoted  by 

the  Priests  at  Jerusalem. 

5.  Name  and  describe  the  three  principal  ele- 

ments in  the  early  Christian  communities. 


174  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON     2 

Subject :  Jews  and  Christians. 
Read  Section  2. 

1.  What  was  the  relation  of  early  Christians  to 

Judaism  and  to  Jerusalem  ? 

2.  Why  did  Christianity  flourish  ? 

3.  What  two   events   occurred   in   the  Roman 

community  ? 

4.  What  four  things  do  we  learn  from  the  record 

of  these  events  ? 

5.  What  was  the  tendency  of  the  early  Chris- 

tians, and  how  was  it  stopped  ? 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1/5 

LESSON   3 

Subject :  The  Fall  of  Jerusalem. 
Read  Section  3. 

1.  Give  the  reason  for  the  decay  of  Judaism. 

2.  When    and    by    whom    was    Jerusalem   de- 

stroyed ? 

3.  Describe  the  method  of  the  Roman  attack. 

4.  Describe  the  conditions  within  the  city. 

5.  What  was  the  result  of  the  destruction  ? 

6.  Describe  the  life  of  the  early  Christians  (a)  in 

Jerusalem  {d)  in  Rome. 

7.  Why  did   the  Christians  have  such  a  hard 

time? 


lyb  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  4 

Subject :  Christian  Martyrs. 
Read  Section  4. 

1.  What  are  we  about  to  try  to  understand  ? 

2.  Why  was  there  conflict  between  the  Romans 

and  the  Christians  ? 

3.  Give  an  account  of  the  trial  and  death  of 

Ignatius. 

4.  Give  an  account  of  the  trial  and  death  of 

Polycarp. 

5.  Why  did  these  men  give  up  their  lives  ? 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  I// 

LESSON   5 

Subject :  General  Persecutions  and  Christian  Victories. 
Read  Section  5. 

1.  What  was  a  "  general  persecution  "  ? 

2.  Who  ordered  a  general  persecution  and  why? 

3.  How  were  they  carried  on  ?     Were  they  suc- 

cessful ? 

4.  Why  did  Christianity  conquer  ? 

5.  Why  does  Christianity  endure? 


178  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  6 

Subject :  Early  Organization. 
Read  Sections  6  and  7. 

1.  What  universal  experience  did  Christianity 

have  ? 

2.  How  did  the  Romans  effect  Christianity  {a) 

in  worship  (d)  in  Church  government  ? 

3.  Describe  the  ideas  held  by  Tertullian  regard- 

ing [a)  the  Church  (^d)  the  Apostles. 

4.  Relate  the  story  of  Cyprian's  Martyrdom. 

5.  What  was  Cyprian's  work  ? 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1/9 

LESSON  7 

Subject :  Fall  of  Paganism. 
Read  Sections  8,  9,  10  and  11. 

1.  How  did  the  Romans  effect  the  beliefs  of  the 

early  Church  ? 

2.  Was   Christianity  spreading  in  those  days  ? 

If  so,  how  ? 

3.  Describe  the   worship  and  Hfe  of  the  early 

Christians. 

4.  What  did  Constantine  do  for  Christianity  ? 

5.  How  does  the  history  of  Christianity,  so  far, 

show  God's  hand  guiding  life  ? 


l80  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON   8 

Subject:  The  General  Councils. 
Read  Section  12. 

1.  What  came  with  the  Christian  victories  ? 

2.  How  did  the  Emperor  exercise  his  authority 

over  the  Church  ? 

3.  Describe  the  first  General  Council. 

4.  On  what  question  did  Athanasius  and  Arius 

debate  ?     Who  won  ? 

5.  Describe  how  the  division  of  the  East  from 

the  West  came  about,  and  state  its  value. 


THE   HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 01 

LESSON  9 

Subject :  The  Barbarian  Invasion. 
Read  Section  1 3. 

1.  About  440  what  was  the  condition  of  the 

Empire  within  ?     What  without  ? 

2.  What  was  possible  ? 

3.  What  does  "  pope  "  mean  ? 

4.  What  did  Leo  do  ? 

5.  How  did  Leo  save  the  Church  of  Rome  from 

destruction  ? 


1 82  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON   lo 

Subject :  Monasticism. 
Read  Sections  14  and  15. 

1 .  What  was  the  result  of  discussions  and  worldly 

living  within  the  Church  ? 

2.  Who  was  St.  Anthony  and  what  did  he  do  ? 

3.  Describe   the   development    of  hermits    into 

monks. 

4.  What   two   kinds    of   Christians   were   in    the 

world  ? 

5.  What  positions  did  Augustine  and  Ambrose 

occupy  ? 

6.  How  was    Christianity   promoted   and   who 

were  some  of  the  missionaries  ? 


OUTLINE  OF  DIVISION  ONE 


183 


184  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON    II 

Subject :  The  Beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Read  Sections  16,  17  and  18. 

1.  After  conquering  the  Romans,  what  was  the 

next  task  for  Christianity  ? 

2.  Describe  the  Mohammedan    invasion  in  the 

East. 

3.  Why  did  the  Eastern  Christianity  decay  ? 

4.  What   elements    helped    in    rebuilding    the 

West? 

5.  What  element  hindered  and  how  was  it  over- 

come? 

6.  Explain  the  two  centres  of  the  Middle  Ages. 


THE   HISTORY    OF   CHRISTIANITY  1 8$ 

LESSON  12 

Subject :  The  Papacy  and  Empire. 
Read  Sections  19  and  20. 

1.  Who  gained  power  first,  and  why? 

2.  How  did  Gregory  build  up  the  Papacy  ? 

3.  After  Gregory  what  happened  ? 

4.  How  did  Charles  the  Great  gain  power  ? 

5.  What  was  the  value  of  Charles  to  Christianity  ? 


1 86  THE    HISTORY    OF   CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  13 

Subject :  The  Power  of  Monasticism. 
Read  Sections  21  and  22. 

1.  Where  was  learning  promoted,  and  with  what 

result  on  monasticism  ? 

2.  What  movement  started  at  the  Monastery  of 

Cluny  ?     How  did  these  monks  effect  the 
people  ? 

3.  How  did  Gregory  Hildebrand  gain  his  power  ? 

4.  How  did  he  exercise  it  over  King  Henry  ? 

5.  Was  Gregory  right  in  his  requirements? 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 8/ 

LESSON  14 

Subject :  Crusades  and  Inquisition, 
Read  Section  23  (i)  and  (2). 

1.  What  was  the  result  of  the  increased  power 

of  the  Pope  ? 

2.  What  were  the  Crusades  ?     How  many  were 

there  ? 

3.  Describe  Godfrey  of  Bouillon. 

4.  What  were  heretics  ? 

5.  How  were  they  treated,  especially  the  Albi- 

genses  ? 

6.  What  kind  of  Christianity  did  the  Pope  of 

Rome  require  ? 


1 88  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  15 

Subject :  St.  Francis  of  Assissi. 
Read  Section  23  (3). 

1.  Amidst  all  this  dark  period  were  there  any 

true  and  noble  Christians  ? 

2.  What  was  the  early  life  of  St.  Francis  ? 

3.  How  did  he  try  to  organize  Christianity  ? 

4.  What  other  Order  of  Christianity  was  estab- 

lished ? 

5.  What  change  took  place  through  the  preach- 

ing of  the  monks  ? 


THE   HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 89 

LESSON  16 

Subject :  Abuse  of  Papal  Power. 
Read  Sections  24  and  25. 

1.  What  was  the  duty  of  the  Pope  at  this  time? 

2.  Instead    of  doing  their   duty,  what  did   the 

Popes  do  ? 

3.  What  was  the  cHmax  in   1 302  ? 

4.  What  was  the  effect  on  people  of  this  schism  ? 

5.  What  did  the  Council  of  Constance  proclaim  ? 


190  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON   17 

Subject :  Wiclif  and  Huss. 
Read  Section  25  (i)  and  (2). 

1 .  Where  is  the  movement  for  the  reform  of  the 

Papacy  best  seen  ? 

2.  Give  an  account  of  Wiclif 's  Hfe  and  the  three 

things  he  asserted. 

3.  Where  did  Huss  Hve?     How  did  he  live  and 

what  were  his  teachings  ? 

4.  What  happened  at  the  Council  of  Constance  ? 

5.  What  was  the  result  of  the  death  of  Huss  ? 


OUTLINE  OF  DIVISION  TWO 


191 


192  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  18 

Subject :  Dawn  of  the  Reformation. 
Read  Sections  26  and  27. 

1.  What   three    events   changed    the  aspect  of 

Christianity  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries  ? 

2.  What  country  awoke  to  a  new  reHgious  Hfe 

first,  and  why  ? 

3.  Give  an  account  of  the  hfe  of  Luther  up  to 

the  Diet  of  Worms. 

4.  Give  an  account  of  the  Diet. 

5.  How    was    Luther   able  to   accompHsh   his 

reform  ? 

6.  What  were  the  changes  in  the  rehgious  life 

of  Germany  ? 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  I93 

LESSON  19 

Subject :  Reformation  in  France. 
Read  Section  28. 

1.  How  did  the  Reformation  in  France   differ 

from  that  in  Germany  ? 

2.  How  did  John  Calvin  come  to  the  front  ? 

3.  What  did  he  do  at  Geneva? 

4.  What  was  the  value  of  Calvin  ? 

5.  Tell  what  you  can  about  Servetus. 


194  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  20 

Subject :  Reformation  in  England. 
Read  Section  29  (i)  and  (2). 

1.  Give    the   reasons    for   England's   ability   to 

throw  off  the  Papacy. 

2.  Give  the  three  Fundamental  movements  of 

the  Reformation  to  this  point. 

3.  Who,   and   what    kind    of  a   man,   was   the 

central  figure  in  the  Enghsh  Reformation  ? 

4.  About  what   question    did   the  Reformation 

centre  ?  And   what   three    measures  were 
the  result  ? 

5.  Tell  (a)  about  the  translation  of  the  Bible, 

(b)  the  compiling  of  the  Prayer  Book. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 95 

LESSON   21 

Subject :  Reformation  in  England  (Continued). 
Read  Section  29  (3)  (4)  (5)  and  (6). 

1.  What  was  the  result  of  the  Monastic  order 

in  England  ? 

2.  Who  succeeded  Henry,  with  what  results  ? 

3.  Describe  the  terrible  reaction  under  Mary  I. 

4.  What  was  the  cause  of  the  Spanish  Armada  ? 

5.  What  was  the  result,  and  how  do  Englishmen 

regard  it? 


196  THE   HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  22 

Subject :  Counter  Reform. 
Read  Section  30. 

1.  While  the  Protestants  were  reforming,  what 

were  the  Roman  CathoHcs  doing  ? 

2.  Give  an  account  of  the  hfe  of  Loyola. 

3.  What  order  did  he  found  and  what  was  its 

idea? 

4.  Where  and  how  did  the  Roman  Church  de- 

fine her  beliefs  ? 

5.  Why  does  she  not  contribute  to  the  advance 

of  civilization  ? 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 9/ 

LESSON  23 

Subject :  Protestantism. 
Read  Sections  31  and  32. 

1.  How  was  the  Christianity  of  the  Middle  Ages 

organized  ? 

2.  What  did  the  Protestants  do  ? 

3.  What  is  true  freedom  ? 

4.  How  did  freedom  in  reHgious  matters  affect 

the  middle  and  peasant  classes  ? 

5.  How  did  those  classes  affect  the  Church  ? 


198  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  24 

Subject :  Oliver  Cromwell. 
Read  Section  32  (i). 

1.  What  kind  of  a  man  was  Cromwell? 

2.  How  did  he  get  control  of  Parliament  ? 

3.  How  did  he  use  his  control  ? 

4.  What  happened  after  his  death  ? 


THE    HISTORY    OF,   CHRISTIANITY  1 99 

LESSON  25 

Subject :  Milton  and  Bunyan. 
Read  Section  32  (2)  and  (3). 

1.  As  what  is  Milton  remembered? 

2.  What  was  Milton's  early  training  ? 

3.  What  is  "  Paradise  Lost "  ? 

4.  What  can  you  tell  about  the  early  life  of 

Bunyan  ? 

5.  For  what  is  he  remembered  ? 

6.  What  is  the  defect  of  the  book  ? 


200  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  26 

Subject :  The  Failures  and  Faults  of  Protestantism. 
Read  Sections  33,  34  and  35. 

1.  Give  the  cause  of  and  describe  Puritan  Emi- 

gration. 

2.  Why  did  Puritanism  fall  ? 

3.  What  is  the  value  and  harm  of  denomina- 

tions ? 

4.  Give  a  short  account  of  (i)  Presbyterians,  (2) 

Congregationalists,  (3)  Baptists,  (4)  Qua- 
kers. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  201 

LESSON  27 

Subject :  Reaction  and  Reason. 
Read  Sections  36  and  37. 

1.  When  and  how  was  the  King  James'  Version 

of  the  Bible  pubHshed  ? 

2.  How  was  reaction  the  result  of  freedom  ? 

3.  What  were  some  of  the  good  results  of  the 

reaction  ? 

4.  Describe  the  French  Revolution. 

5.  What  was  the  difference  between  the  Chris- 

tianity of  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  Refor- 
mation ?     What  was  left  for  our  age  ? 


OUTLINE  OF  DIVISION  THREE 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  203 

LESSON  28 

Subject :  John  Wesley. 
Read  Section  38. 

1.  What  movement  introduced  the  revival  of 

true  Christianity  ? 

2.  Give  an  account  of  John's  early  life  and  the 

"  Holy  Club." 

3.  What  were  Wesley's  relations  to  the  English 

Church  ? 

4.  What  happened  after  Wesley's  death  ? 

5.  What  was  the  value  of  Methodism? 


204  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  29 

Subject :  Intellectual  Beginnings. 
Read  Sections  39  and  40. 

1.  During  Wesley's  work  what  else  was  taking 

place  ? 

2.  What  do  you  know  about  Kant,  why  is  he 

mentioned  in  the  history  of  Christianity  ? 

3.  Give  the  name  and  early  life  of  the  founder 

of  our  present  theological  ideas. 

4.  Give  the  three  positions  he  took. 

5.  How  did  Schleiermacher  effect  Christianity? 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  20$ 

LESSON  30 

Subject :  Results  of  New  Life. 
Read  Sections  41,  42  and  43. 

1.  Describe  the  spirit  of  reaction. 

2.  Describe  the  Oxford  movement  and  give  the 

reasons  for  its  being. 

3.  Give  a  short  account  of  the  history  and  pur- 

pose of  the  Sunday-school. 

4.  Show  how  public  education  is  due  to  Chris- 

tianity. 


206  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  31 

Subject :  David  Livingstone. 
Read  Sections  44  and  45. 

1.  What  was  the  missionary  movement  after  the 

Reformation  ? 

2.  Give  an  account  of  Livingstone's  early  life. 

3.  What  did  he  accomplish  on  his  first  African 

journey  ? 

4.  What  on  his  second  and  third  ? 

5.  What  kind  of  a  Christian  was  Livingstone? 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  20/ 

LESSON  32 

Subject :  Lord  Shaftesbury. 
Read  Section  46. 

1.  Give  description  of  Shaftesbury's  early  life. 

2.  What  was  his  life  in  Parliament? 

3.  Describe    his    reforms    among   (i)   tenement 

houses,  (2)  costermongers. 

4.  To  what  was  his  greatness  due  ? 

5.  What  did  Gladstone  say  of  him? 


208  THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY 

LESSON  33 

Subject :  William  E.  Gladstone. 
Read  Section  47. 

1.  What  was  Mr.  Gladstone's  early  life? 

2.  Where  did  he  spend  most  of  his  life? 

3.  What  were  the  two  great  achievements  of  his 

life?     Explain  each. 

4.  What  were  his  reUgious  customs  ? 

5.  Give  an  account  of  his  death. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  209 

LESSON  34 

Subject :  Bishop  Brooks. 
Read  Section  48. 

1.  What  was  the  foundation  of  Bishop  Brooks's 

greatness  ? 

2.  What  was  his  early  home  and  school  life  ? 

3.  Why  did  he  turn  to  the  ministry  ? 

4.  Give  an  outline  of  his  life. 

5.  What  was  the  great  work  of  his  life  ? 

6.  How  did  he  effect  Christianity  ? 

7.  How  is  his  memory  perpetuated  ? 


OUTLINE   OF   DIVISION    FOUR 


Date  Due 

L- 

•ooCX 

.\M^"^ 

\j->-^ 

FFB      3 

1999 

1 

MAR  0  8 

1998 

i    (  '                   '        '' 

f> 

BW917  .G22 

The  history  of  Christianity  from  Saint 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00015  8503 


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